Intercept
by Plantress
Summary: Post ME3. Hannah Shepard runs into Garrus Vakarian while visiting her daughter in the hospital. Dealing with her daughter's alien boyfriend is the last thing she expected to be doing that day.
1. Chapter 1

A/n: Got this done on Mother's day somehow. XD Anyway, this is the first of four parts to this. I always had a Spacer Shepard that romanced Garrus, and kept wondering how her mother would react to that. I have a weakness for the 'meet the parents' stuff anyway, so I thought I would write this. The ending I went with for my Shepard isn't really any of the canon ones. It's half indoctrination theory, and half my own ideas.

I noticed that I had the characters calling Hannah 'Admiral' but if I'm remembering right, the game says she's a Rear Admiral. I know those are different ranks, but I'm not sure how that would affect how people address her. If you're more military minded than me, feel free to correct me on that.

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There were so many machines in the room that their soft beeping drowned out the breathing of the patient they were monitoring. Commander Lilliana Shepard, hero of the galaxy, the one who enabled them to win the war and drive back the Reapers, lay in the center of them all amidst a tangle of wires.

Her mother stood at the foot of her bed, her hand resting on the edge as she watched the gentle rise and fall of her daughter's chest. It was the only sign that she was still alive. Admiral Hannah Shepard knew that the machines around her would be able to tell her the same, but she didn't know what the various readouts meant and quite frankly she did not care. Her daughter was breathing on her own now. That was enough to tell her there was an improvement.

She picked up her hand and walked around the edge of the bed until she reached the stool that had been placed near the head of it. Hannah lowered herself onto it gently, trying to hide a wince. Her own doctors still weren't happy with her insisting on being up and around but she had had enough of sitting still and being fussed over. There was far too much to do. Recovery, rescue, organization, rebuilding…the list went on and on, even for an Admiral who was suppose to be on medical leave. Besides, doing things kept her mind occupied. Kept her from thinking and worrying about her only child.

Lil looked pale and fragile laying there with all the machines plugged into her. Gently, Hannah reached out and smoothed some hair away from her eyes, as she had when her daughter had been much younger. That had been years, and years ago, before she became a war hero, before she had even joined the Alliance, but right now she reminded her mother more of that little girl than of the legends people claimed her to be.

"Get through this Lillie," she said, covering her daughter's hand with her own. "You made me mourn you once. Don't do that to me again." It had been easier, back when they had been on separate ships, in totally different areas of space. Easier to just be proud of everything your daughter had accomplished when there was a million different things to do and you were scrambling to even survive another day. It was nearly impossible when you knew your daughter was in the same building as you and hadn't woken up since she was brought here.

This was one of the few hospitals that had remained standing after the Reapers had hit. Only the worst of the worst were being treated in the hospital itself, there were simply to many casualties to be able to fit even a fraction of their forces. Everyone else was in the temporary medical wards had been set up surrounding it. Turian, human, quarian, even krogan were all being brought here. It made things….interesting at the very least.

Her daughter's room was well away from the center of the building, in a private and well guarded wing away from the public. They were keeping most of the higher ranking personal that had been wounded in the same wing as well, although her daughter had been granted a private room in a separate hallway. Not many people even knew she was here, a blessing considering all the answers everyone was clambering for. They weren't particularly concerned about the personal welfare of the person who could answer them either. At least she was safe for the moment.

It was thanks to Admiral Hackett for that really. He had convinced what was left of the Alliance brass that it was better to keep the information quiet, at least until her daughter woke. Since the few remaining news feeds were all either calling her missing or presumed dead she supposed they were doing a very good job with the quiet part. Of those few that knew she was still alive, still fewer actually knew where she was. They might have guessed, but they weren't allowed into see for sure. The doctors kept a very short list on who they trusted near her.

It was one of her daughter's friends, or at least acquaintances that was proving to be a great help in that. Miranda Lawson had driven off or deflected away most people that tried to visit her. Having faced her at worst Hannah had a health respect for the woman, although Miss Lawson had mellowed considerable once she had verified that yes, she was indeed Commander Shepard's mother. Miss Lawson had placed her on the very short list of people she was actually allowing in her daughter's room after that. That didn't help the suspicion she felt toward the younger woman. She knew very well who Lawson was and where she had come from. She didn't trust her entirely, but she couldn't argue with the results she was getting. She just wished she knew who has tipped the woman off about where he daughter was. A security leak like that wasn't comforting, and that was one of many questions Lawson wouldn't answer. But that could wait. Better to let the questions lay fallow until Lillie woke up. Her daughter should be able to answer some of them at least.

After a while the Admiral glanced down at her omintool and sighed at time on the holoclock. She would have liked to stay a bit longer but duties, and the fact that Lawson would throw a fit if she stayed too long, meant that she had to leave. Besides, there was a twinge in her hip that was her body warning her that it didn't like her sitting on a hard stool for so long. Time to move.

Although she did lower her arm and stood, Hannah still stood by her daughter's bedside for another long moment before she gave her hand a hard squeeze. "Don't give up," she whispered furiously before she let go and moved away.

She had left her cane leaning near the doorway. It wasn't something she had wanted to use but her injuries had left her with little choice. Hannah knew that her doctors would probably have preferred if she was either in a wheelchair or confined to a bed, but she wasn't about to let herself be chained to either. There was just too much to do and this suited her, even if it did make her move a bit slower.

She gave a nod to the guards that had been stationed right outside the door to the room. Hackett hadn't been willing to take any chances. Her daughter was still the only one who knew everything that had happened up there in the Crucible, why it had fired and the answer to a million other questions. That was why there was a second set of guards just outside the door that lead into her daughter's little hallway.

As she neared the ended of the bigger hallway that lead out of the main hospital, raised voices reached her ears. They were agitated and instinct but made her tense and drop her free hand to the pistol she still carried out of habit. It was only a twinge of pain that shot up her leg that snapped her attention to what she was doing. Slowly she removed her hand from the gun, reminding herself silently that she hadn't heard any gunshots yet nor did she have any reason to suspect there was a real threat at the moment. Arguments were commonplace, and nothing to be concerned about. That didn't stop her from increasing her pace as she continued down the hall, ignoring the pain that shot down her hip and leg.

"…..already know she's here, so why don't we stop the games and just let me through?" was the first thing she was able to make out when she got close enough. The voice was Turian, that was obvious and it sounded half familiar to her. She couldn't place it for the life of her but she felt she should know it. Unusual, given that most Turians were being treated in their own area but not something entirely unexpected. The rest of the wing with the higher-ranked personal, including her own room until recently, was right there and she did remember some fuss being made over a Turian general that had been brought in. One of his men could have come looking for him, but then again whoever this was had said 'she'. It twanged suspicions with her.

She wasn't near enough to hear the reply of the guards protecting the entrance to this corridor itself, but she was more than near enough to hear the Turian.

"If you need authorization, why don't you ask someone who Garrus Vakarian is?" You didn't need to be an expect on interspecies interactions to hear the annoyance in his voice. "Served on the Normandy? Both of them? Helped kick the asses of both the Collectors and the Reapers? Advisor to the Primarch? _Best friend to Commander Shepard?_"

Hannah turned the corner in time to see one of the two Marines turn to look at his partner in confusion. He was young, very young, and apparently didn't know what to make of this.

"Do you think we should..?" he didn't even try to keep his voice down. The other Marine was older, although not by much, and he just shook his head.

"We have heard your name before, sir," he said politely, "but you do not have authorization to proceed past this point. We cannot break orders, and we haven't received word to add your name to the list of those with clearance for this area."

"Oh, _come on,_" was the snarled reply from the man they were blocking. Admiral Shepard studied the Turian with the battle scars and the visor. At least that told her why she had recognized his voice. They had met only once, years ago, at that tense funeral for her daughter. It had been brief, only a polite version of 'I'm sorry for your loss, she was a good Commander' before he had walked away. Beyond that, she knew him only from the reports she had read and wide spread rumor. Those alone had indicated a rather impressive record and rank. Lil had mentioned him a time or two in passing as well in the short messages they had sent each other. He had been someone she trusted.

"I'm sorry," the younger of the Marines did sound as if he meant the sentiment, "but our orders come from Admiral Hackett himself. The restrictions are necessary for the Commander's safety. We can't just take your word for it that you…"

"So all the scans and barriers are just for fun?" Vakarain flicked a talon that biometrics scanner that had been placed at the beginning of the hallway, just past the guards. They were supposed to sound the alarm if anyone went though them who didn't have clearance. Hannah had thought it unnecessary and a waste of time the first she had heard of it but when they remaining Alliance brass agreed on something there wasn't much she could do. "You would think that the Alliance would be more competent than that. Unless your saying that it's Marines can't even interpret a simple _scan._"

The two Marines bristled at the remark, but Admiral Shepard just gave an amused grin. Young they might be but Admiral Hackett had placed them here for a reason. Vakarian had much to learn if he thought he could actually make them respond to that remark.

Not that she thought he really expected them to. She might be the first to admit that she knew crap all about Turian body language or expressions, but there were just some things that seemed to translate across species. Like the impatient, worried pacing or the desperation undercutting his voice. She wasn't completely sure about the last, the dual harmonics were throwing her off slightly, but she was fairly sure about it. Besides, she had been serving with Turians during the Reaper war. The way his mandible were flaring and twitching was something she had only seen when once before, when she had seen a commander getting news from Palaven. Hannah hated to assume anything but if she had to take a guess that was the Turian equivalent of 'complete helplessness'. It was a feeling she knew all to well. Back when they had first brought her daughter in, no one accept the doctors had been allowed anywhere near her until she was stabilized. The waiting, that had been the hardest part. That was not a feeling she would wish on anyone.

"Look, you just contact one of your superiors right now and tell them I'm here. One way or another I'm getting through here, and I would much rather it be through the _peaceful _route. Less damage that way." There was a menacing rumbling that crept into the subvocal harmonics. It made even her stiffen and she saw the guards drop hands to weapons. Immediately she started to move forward to avoid an intergalactic incident.

"I'm sorry _sir_," one of the Marines said, "but our superiors are in a meeting. You'll have to wait until it's concluded." The tone of 'and just _try _to do something about it' was clear even from where she was standing. The response from an outright growl from Vakarian that had the two Marines shifting uneasily.

"I really don't care where they are," was the more coherent response although there was a clear rumble still in his subtones. "Get a hold of them now or you patch me through to them. I _really _don't feel like being patient right about right." There was a familiar note of command in his voice. He was _used _to giving orders, and she would tell them Marines recognized that even if they weren't consciously aware of it.

"We can't do that," was terse response from the older Marine, "_sir." _The younger one shifted uncomfortably.

"Look," he said before Vakarian would reply to that, "even if you get clearance for this wing, you might not be able to get back to Commander Shepard. The doctors are the ones really controlling access to her, you won't get anywhere unless you talk to them. They said they wanted as few distractions for her recovery and they've limited the visitor list. Right now it's only family and close friends that.."

"Well that's fine; I think being her boyfriend more than qualities me for _both_ lists," there was a strange look in his eyes, "and I don't care _who _gave the orders. Just tell me where they are, or just take the easy way out and let me through. I'm getting past here no matter what you decide. One way is just quieter than the other."

Hannha's mind had screeched to a halt at the first sentence and she used every ounce of self-control to keep her mouth from dropping open completely. She wasn't totally stunned; the logical part of her brain was already prompting her that she should do something before it turned into a diplomatic incident and trying to figure out what action she should take. It was the rest of her brain, the emotional part, that was stuck on an endless loop of 'What?'

It wasn't as if she hadn't heard the rumors flying around about her daughter's involvement with her Turian crewmember, but she hadn't taken any of them seriously. Scuttlebutt ran rampant on any ship and when you threw in someone with a reputation like her daughters…well, that was just an invitation for the gossip to come creeping out of the dark corners. It hadn't occurred to her there would be some truth buried in there.

Besides her own daughter hadn't even _mentioned _that she was seeing someone. Not that personal lives were high on the list of things they talked about anymore, but you would think an inter-species relationship that could have very high intergalactic political ramifications would be worth brining up.

The guards appeared to having the same thoughts she was, although the older of the two had actually drawn back a little and was just staring.

"What?" the younger one said, "But you're…" he trailed off, shaking his head and looked over at his partner. "Should we..?"

"It…it doesn't change anything," he said after a moment and Hannah was struck by how very, very young they two of them were. She would have to revise her initial thoughts on why they had been set here. They bore the wounds of having served in the war but they had probably only seen action because the Alliance had been in desperate needed of any warm body that could fill a uniform. Maybe not the most skilled of those who had been rushed out of training, but they were badly wounded and more than capable of standing guard to free up other, more needed, personnel for other duties. Or that was probably the thought process behind their assignment.

Her mind was slowly pulling out it's shocked loop, pushed out by sheer annoyance at whoever was the commanding officer of these two. The guards on the inner doors might be veterans but that was no excuse for assigning personnel to a much more public position that had an even greater chance of causing incidence. She was going to have to have a word with _someone _about assigning kids so woefully under prepared for their positions here.

That feeling was only enforced when Vakarian took advantage of the fact that their startled steps back to slip between them with that strange grace Turians kept even when they were in full armor. He was through the scanner, which didn't go off for some reason, a small blessing, before they could even react.

"Hey, you can't…!"

Vakarian had glanced back to check on the guards and almost ran into her before he noticed she was there. He screeched to a stop as he stared down at her in confusion. Apparently he been so focused he hadn't even noticed that his little conversation that he hadn't seen the other human in the hallway. She pinned him with a measuring look.

"Let him go," she heard herself say. The two Marines pulled up short and seemed to notice that she was there for the first time as well. Lax of them not to even be aware of her presence.

"Admiral Shepard," the older one said in shock and threw her a sketchy salute. "Um, sorry, but we can't…"

"Shepard?" Vakarian looked at her sharply, finally taking the time to really study her.

"Make it an order if you have to, and tell anyone who asks I was the one that gave it. If they have a problem with it tell them to come to me." She turned her attention away from the marine and back to the Turian in front of her. For a moment she didn't say anything.

Back during the First Contact War, she had been a very young marine. She still remembered being instructed in how vicious, brutal and strange the Turians were. How they were aliens, cold, merciless being that could not be understood or reasoned with.

She doubted anyone back then had ever seen a Turian with this sort of naked emotion in his eyes.

"Um," he cleared his throats, seem to vibrate with some sort of nervous energy.

She nodded. "If you want to see her, come on," she told him and gestured down the hall. "The Alliance didn't give my daughter just _one _layer of security, and I think they would be happier if I made sure there weren't anymore…events over it."

"…Thank you," was the response as they started walking. "How is the Commander? I mean really, not just what the reports said."

"She's recovering," was the only thing Hannah said. "Now, if you really want to thank me then tell me how you managed to find out where she was. I thought that we had maintained better secrecy than that."

There was silent for a moment and Hannah wondered if the Turian was even going to answer her. Vakarian hesitated then said quickly. "Dr. T'soni sent me a message about it. She thought I had a right to know."

"I suppose you do," was the only reply she could think of to that beyond a faint annoyance at the scientist for breaking protocol so easily. Didn't she realize how much of a security risk that was or how much trouble she should get in? At least that anger was something she knew how to deal with.

She wasn't sure what you were _supposed _to say when you found out your daughter's boyfriend was from an alien race you had started out your military career shooting at. Not that she held any sort of animosity or judgment towards the Turians themselves but this was just _awkward_. Thankfully she was saved from having to figure out more conversation when they reached the inner door guards. The two Marines there older, more experienced and, although no one had actively told her about it, N7 members that had been trusted enough to know who they were really guarding. She had taken time to look up their service records herself…or at least as much of their service records as she could get access to.

They gave Vakarian measuring stares, which he matched with an impatient glare, before she stepped up and explained things. She had expected to meet more resistance than she did with the hallway guards, but either they were more aware of who Vakarian was or they were willing to trust her judgment in the matter. After a few curt questions they let them pass.

"Please tell me they're more competent than they look," Vakarian muttered as they went through the doors. "I really _really _don't want to think about the security around the Commander being _so _lax that someone can walk right in."

"If you weren't with me it would be a _lot _harder to get back here," she pointed out. "These are good men, and they were chosen for a reason." The Turian grumbled something under his breath that her translator didn't catch. Not that she needed to know exact words in order to catch the meaning behind it. "Would you really have wanted them to waste more time arguing with you?"

He mulled that over for a moment. "Ask me later. When I'm actually feeling charitable."

"Lil never mentioned anything between the two of you," she said to distract him. Or at least that had been her intent. The words came out a little sharper than she had meant them to be. She knew it was foolish; it wasn't as if she had ever wanted to know all the details of her daughter's personal life. However right now, with everything so raw, the thought that she didn't even know her daughter had been seeing _anyone _threw her. Such a small thing, why hadn't seen been aware of it?

Vakarian reached up to scratch at the back of his neck. "There wasn't….we weren't really together until right before we blew up the Collector base. Then it was the Mass Relay and she was dragged back to earth. The Alliance wasn't letting her talk with anyone after that, and then when the war hit, well…..it slipped our minds?"

The last sounded almost apologetic and she felt a twinge of guilt over that. "I can't really fault you for it," she said. "Everyone had bigger things to worry about during the war."

"Just a few things," he agreed, "like say the fate of the entirely galaxy or how we were going to get _everyone _to actually be sensible for once," but didn't get a chance say anything more as they reached the door to Lillie's room. The only windows into the room where the small one in the door and the slightly larger one positioned so someone could keep an eye on the patient. They had to pass that first window in order to reach the door, and even that small glimpse of her daughter made him freeze for half a second. He made a noise, low in his throat. She looked at him in confusion. She had never heard a Turian voice anything like that half whine-half growl.

That sound brought both guard snapping to attention but she flashed them the hand signal that meant 'all clear'.

"Admiral Shepard," one of them said, coming forward to meet her. "What are you doing back here? I thought you had ended your visit for today."

"It's complicated," she said. While she was trying to explain things to the guard, Garrus slipped by them. They noticed but apparently they believed her, or at least trusted her enough at this point, that neither of them tried to stop him. They knew how much Lil meant to her. Maybe they knew what it meant if she was willing to allow him near her while she was unconscious. After a few more assurances she followed the Turian back into the room.

Vakarian was standing by the head of her daughter's bed, head bowed. He was speaking but whatever he said was too low for her to catch. She learned against the doorway and watched as he slowly brought up a hand toward her cheek. He didn't let the hand touch but instead he let his fingers hover a hair's breadth from her skin. Still not touching her he trailed a trembling hand down her face, neck, shoulder, and then followed her arm down to her hand. He didn't take it though, and just let his fingers ghost over hers, as if he was afraid she was going to break or disappear at any moment. A soft tone crept into Garrus voice, something so tender it hurt to listen to it. Hannah began to feel like an intruder. There was an intimacy and emotion there that felt as if should be private.

_Nonsense,_ she told herself. It was her daughter. She had a right to be here. With a few steps she crossed the room to stand at the foot of her daughter's bed again. A sense of déjà vu crept over her; she had been standing here far too much lately. A twinge of pain again, telling her she should be resting somewhere. She pushed that aside for the moment.

Something about her movement must have alerted Vakarian. He glanced in her direction but then turned his gaze back on her daughter.

"The first reports we received said she was dead ," he said, sounding faintly accusing. It made her bristle before she forced herself to calm down.

"Some idiot started throwing that around almost as soon as the battle was ended," she said remember the old pain she had first heard it. "As far as I've been able to fathom it was only rumors. One that reached _someone _in a position of authority, and believe me they will regret it when I find _who _it was, but just rumors. The Alliance had her listed as MIA until Dr. T'soni and Lieutenant Vega brought her in."

"Funny, I thought most of the Alliance _still _listed her as MIA," he actually looked. "Not that I blame you. It's a good idea. Keep the scavengers away until she's on her feet again."

"That was the idea," she said relaxing a little at not having to deal with an _angry _Turian. "There are a lot of questions out there about what happened with the Reapers, a lot of people impatient for the answers to them. Some of them are just looking for someone to blame." She snorted, "Some of the Alliance brass wanted so answers so badly they were ready to try forcing her wake." She couldn't keep the quite fury out of her voice as she remembered the meeting where they had brought that idea up. "I told them no, and exactly what would happen to each of them if they tried it."

For a moment there was something angry in his eyes that almost made her take a step back as he finally reached over and squeezed Lil's hand. Then that look faded and he cocked his head, mandibles flaring slightly. "Heh." The laugh was quiet, and strained but there.

"You find that amusing?"

"Just starting to realize where the Commander gets it from," he said as he glanced back at her daughter. "I almost wish I could have been there. That was _bound _to have been entertaining."

"Glad I amuse you," she said dryly, but without malice. "Although I can't claim all the credit. Admiral Hackett and Miss Lawson gave as much too.."

"Wait," Vakarian cut her off, "…You mean _Miranda _is here?"

"Yes, she's been helping with Lil's care," Hannah gave him a puzzled look. "Didn't you know?"

"For _some _reason no one thought to mention that to me," he said under his breath then looked at her. His gaze locked on her own. "You do realize what she is, right?"

Hannah didn't even have to think to know what he meant. "You mean a former Cerberus operative? I did read her file, Vakarian. I know what she is."

"Then the Alliance is keeping a close eye on her?"

"Do you really think I would let someone like her near my daughter unsupervised?" It had been impossible _not _to hear about her daughter's activities in Cerberus. From the moment the first sighting had come in Alliance command had started scrambling to make sense of it. _She _had been called in for questioning. They had wanted to know if her daughter had contacted her, did she have any idea where she was or where she had been for the past two years. On and on while she had been struggling to come to term with the fact that her daughter was _alive_, that that particular miracle was a reality. When she seen where Miranda Lawson had come from she had come close to chasing her off. Hackett had convinced her otherwise.

"..Right. Sorry," the Turian admitted. "I suppose that even the Alliance isn't that naïve."

"Oh, humans learn fast when given the motivation," she couldn't help saying. "I didn't like it much, but she has been improving rabidly while under Lawson's care. She's almost fully healed. We just have to wait for her to…wake up."

Both them feel silent, the reality of those words weighing heavily on them. There was nothing either of them could _do _about this situation. It was a place she was not used to being in, and if she had to guess it was probably affecting Vakarian the same way. However she felt about the Turian at he moment, he did obviously care about her daughter in some way. She could feel sympathy to that.

"Do we have any time frame when she will?" Vakarian asked. She shook her head, not trusting her voice to remain steady if she spoke.

"Sooner, if she actually has a chance to rest," the crisp female voice came from the doorway. Hannah Shepard was not remotely surprised when she turned to see who it was.

"Miss Lawson," she said by way of greeting as the younger woman entered the room.

"Miranda," Vakarian said dryly. "So you _are _here. I'm surprised you cared enough to come."

"Nice to see you too," she said with equal dryness as she gave Hannah a nod. "You don't have to be sound so surprised Garrus. I owe the Commander, in ways that I can't repay. Besides, I am the one that's best qualified to see to her and you know it."

"Unfortunately, I can't argue with that," Vakarian admitted after a pause, "although I really, really want to."

"You don't trust me?"

"I _never _trusted you," Vakarian rumbled. "I trusted _Shepard_. There's a difference."

An urgent beeping from Hannah Shepard's omi-tools broke the tense atmosphere in the room. She glanced down at it, feeling rather relived that she wouldn't be forced to run another intervention.

"I'm afraid that's my reminder that I have a meeting to get to," she said, looking up at the other two conscious occupants in the room. The interruption felt forced but at least it had shattered the tension. She didn't want to leave it like this, but she had duties that she had to get to. Things she had volunteered for in order to keep herself occupied. There was so much to do they were only to glad to accept help. "If you'll excuse me?" She gave both of them a parting nod.

"It was nice to see you again, Admiral," Lawson said, sounding neutral.

"Thanks for the help earlier," the Turian said after a moment's hesitation. "And uh, it was nice to meet you?"

"That wasn't any trouble," she said mildly then paused in the door. "But, Vakarian? We _are _going to have a talk later. A nice long one." She moved away and out of the room before he could answer.

Her soft order to 'make sure they don't _kill _each other' only amused the guards as she passed by them.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Finally finished this! Sorry it took as long as it did. This chapter is a little more dramatic, focuses a lot more on Garrus/FemShep, and I'm sorry that there's not more Admiral Hannah in it. I wanted to use this to set up somethings and maybe answer a few questions. The Talk with her will be in the next chapter though!

Original this story was going to have four parts totally, but I extended it to six parts because I wanted to involve Garrus' family too. XD

0o0o0o

If you had asked Garrus Vakarian less than an hour ago, he would have said honestly that their families weren't something that he and Shepard had talked about much. Not that he had hadn't thought of his before, in the down shift hours when she was curled up in bed next to him and he had wondered how he was going to bring up the topic of an alien girlfriend to his father. That it was Commander Shepard might either make things worse or better depending on how his father chose to see things.

But Lil's own family? The mother had he had heard mentioned once or twice? That was something he hadn't thought of much, aside from being happy for Shepard when she had told him that her mother was all right. He had known in the back of his mind that he would have to meet her someday, the woman who had raised i_his/i_ Shepard. Really introduce himself to her, not like before when they had exchanged grief stricken platitudes that had barely been noticed. This time, he had wanted to do things right.

Of course, apparently the universe had decided it had other plans. He had never, in his worst imagined confrontations thought that meeting would turn out like it had. In his mind Lil had been there, by his side. Not lying here, so wounded and fragile it felt like a wrong look would shatter her. As he watched Admiral Shepard leave, he couldn't help but feel that something, somewhere had gone very wrong. He very much doubted that yelling at Marines and nearly running her over had left a very good first impression on her. One of the things forefront in his mind was that he wanted to get along with her, even if it was only for Lil's sake. This didn't look like a very good start to that.

When she was gone Miranda didn't say anything, just gave him a look and raised an eyebrow at him. Garrus decided to ignore that and turned back to Lil, trying to reassure himself that she was alive, that she was breathing and her heart beating. Part of him still wasn't sure it was _real. _ He wondered if this was just a dream, and he would wake up alone in the Normandy again with the knowledge that this had just been a fantasy and she really was gone.

"I take it that the Admiral…knows about the two of you? I can't imagine what else would drive her to say that," Miranda's question was actually a welcome distraction for the direction his thoughts had been headed and Garrus glanced over at her.

"Yes, she knows," was all he said. He didn't see why Miranda of all people should know _how _she found out. He wasn't entirely sure on human protocol for introducing yourself to your lover's parents but he was positive that his _announcement _back there had been far outside it.

"I'm surprised she let you back here then," was the reply from the former-Cerberus operative. He couldn't stop the soft growl that crept into his voice.

"Why wouldn't she?" he asked shortly. "She doesn't seem to mind my..relationship with Shepard. Not all humans are Cerberus." The unsaid words of 'like you' hung in the air after it. At least the Admiral hadn't outright _objected _to him. Maybe things weren't as hapless as he thought.

"I thought you were aware I have nothing to do with Cerberus anymore, and has nothing to do with what I was trying to say," Miranda scowled, "I was _talking _about the fact that the esteemed Admiral served in the First Contact War. I can't imagine that makes her welcome the thought of a turian courting her daughter with open arms. Or weren't you aware of that fact?"

Garrus was immediately grateful that Miranda hadn't shown any interest in learning how to read Turian facial expressions. He wasn't able to keep all of his surprise off his face, and giving her the satisfaction of knowing she had caught him off guard was the last thing he wanted. Shepard hadn't mentioned that to him, although to be perfectly fair, she probably would have if he had asked. Discussing potentially awkward family history just been a high priority with everything else going on.

"So what? Clearly she wasn't _that _appalled by it," he said at last. "She let me back here, didn't she? If she really didn't want the big, bad Turian near her daughter all she had to do was step aside and let the guards stop me."

"If they would even be able to do that without causing a bigger mess. You do realize that dropping threats to Alliance personnel is not likely to go over well?"

That made his mandible flare a little. "How did you know about that?" Another thought occurred to him. "How did you even know that we were here? It's much of a coincidence that you show up right after we get here."

"You give yourself too much credit Vakarian," she said. "I'm in charge of looking after the Commander's health. I do take that seriously enough to check on her. I was actually on my way here when I received the alert that you had arrived. It doesn't take much to realize this was the first place you would go."

"I'm surprised you have access to official Alliance channels," he said, his hand not leaving Shepard's yet.

She snorted. "Looking after the Commander is the largest part of my duties, but I have been lending my support in other ways. And don't worry, the Alliance has been making sure that I remain a good little girl." She smiled in a self satisfied way. "Although this time they can't take all the credit for it. I was well aware of your arrival even before those Marines you were so cheerfully abusing called in to complain about the 'crazy turian'."

"You should be grateful. Those scanners weren't just for show you know. I rigged them to accept the biometrics of half the Normandy crew when I got here. I was sure that none of you would be anything like patient or logical when it came to the Commander. An alert was sent to me when the scanner recognized you."

"Yes, _thank you _for that," he growled. "Clearly I wouldn't have been able to get back here at _all _without your help."

"Without any help at all you would still be arguing with Alliance Command," she observed, "But regardless of that I really do need to do my job. You're going to need to leave. Now. The Commander has been put under enough for stress for one day."

"No," he didn't bother trying to keep the growl out of his voice. "I'm not leaving her again." His hand tightened around Shepard's and he glared at Miranda. "I'm staying right here."

He had expected to hear something form her, something mocking or a snapped order to comply. Instead her face shifted into something softer.

"I'm not heartless," she said, "I understand what it must feel like, and why you would want to stay by her side. But, can you honestly say there's anything that you would be able to do to help her right now?"

"I…" he looked down at Shepard. _His _Shepard. That was a blow he hadn't expected and he didn't know how to respond to it. It had been a fact he hadn't want to face and had been trying to avoid thinking about. All he could do with her in this state was stay by her side and hoped his support counted for something. The only medical knowledge he had was the basic battlefield first aid that all turian soldiers were taught, and that was mostly 'how to apply medigel correctly'. He couldn't even tell you want half the readouts around her meant, or even how she was doing right now.

"I know you don't trust me," Miranda said, steeping closer, "but trust in what I owe the Commander at least. I wouldn't do anything that could hurt her. I want to see her back on her feet, and up to her usual insane antics. I can't do that when I have someone under _my_ feet at all times." Her eyes were serious. "I told Admiral Shepard the same thing. You aren't going to help her, or yourself, standing here worrying. I doubt she's going to thank you for it either, once she's awake."

"You really think you know her that well? Because I really don't remember the two of you being best friends on the Normandy." Was what he said, although he already knew the truth of her words. Shepard always hated anyone fussing over when she was injured, Miranda was right about that at least. There was just this feeling that if he looked away she was going to disappear. He knew how stupid that was, but he couldn't shake it.

"You know that answer to that," was the only reply he got. "I have everyone, even her mother under a time limit for visits," Miranda was saying again. He didn't even look up at the former Cerberus operative. "Does turian command even know you're back? I find it hard to believe that they _wouldn't _be looking for someone with a rank as high as yours."

"You really want me to believe that turian _anything _would confide information to you?" he snorted.

"Of course they wouldn't," now Miranda just sounded annoyed. Good. He could deal with her being annoyed. He didn't know how to handle a sympathetic Miranda. That was just _weird. _ "But, I thought you could use the reminder that there are other things you could be doing besides hovering over a sickbed."

Logically he knew she was right. At the very least he should contact the Primarch to tell him he had made it back alive. Victus had become something of a friend while they had been stuck on Menea and he owed the man that at least. Contacting him would mean admitting that he was here though, and the moment that happened then he would be dragged out to deal with the aftermath of the battle. His rank alone would make it impossible for him to get away from the responsibilities.

He growled a little under his breath, trying to ignore the smug expression on Miranda's face. Shepard herself would tell him to go, to stop fussing and see to his duties. He knew her well enough to know that. She had told him, several times, that she was proud of him for what he had accomplished. It had felt good to hear it from her, but now it was just another thing that was trying to drag him away . He hadn't been there to watch her back this time, and look how she had ended up.

"I'm staying."

"I can _make _you leave this room you know," Miranda's voice was icy. He could hear the shuffle of a bootstep out in the hallway. Right. Guards.

"Are you really willing to do that?" he said softly. "I doubt it. Forcing me would ending up being messier and much more stressful to the Commander. I'm not going to go quietly." From the furious expression on Miranda's face, he had won that round. He allowed himself to savor that small piece of victory before a calmer expression crossed the woman's face and he felt dread settle in the bit of is stomach.

"You're right," she said, "forcing you would be messy. But I can tell the Alliance that they have a rouge Turian who is refusing to listen to reason hovering around the Commander. I can also tell Admiral Shepard that you aren't listening to the doctors and could be endangering her daughter's health. I'm sure she would _love _to hear that about the man she brought back here herself."

If there was any sort of justice in the universe than the glare he sent Miranda's way should have fried her. Or at least tossed her across the room. Or done _something_. Instead she just kept on talking. "I imagine, even if specifics didn't make it into the report, that your turian Hierarchy wouldn't be pleased about someone was…high ranking as you are causing problems with their allies." She paused and titled her head. "Now I wonder which way would really turn out to be messier for you?"

"You fight dirty," he growled.

"All's fair in war. I thought you of all people would know that." She uncrossed her arms and took a step nearer to him. "Now, what will you do, Vakarian?"

There was a tense pause between them that was broken only by a soft tap in the doorway.

"Excuse me?" He knew that voice, and looked up, past Miranda.

"Liara?"

The asari information broker smiled at him. "Garrus," she said in some relief. "I had heard you had arrived. I thought you might be here." She was wearing some sort of long hooded coat, which part of his mind noted was strange for her.

"Dr. T'soni," Miranda said after taking a deep breath. Her tone was curt. "I would _ask _what you are doing here but I don't think that matters at the moment. You know that the Commander is at a delicate state. Having this many people crowding into her room is not going to help her in anyway. Unless you can get _him_," she gestured in his direction, "to leave with you, I suggest you go right now."

"At least let me speak to him?" Liara asked. Well half asked, in polite way. He could hear the steel in her voice, and knew that she wasn't going to let Miranda chase her off. "I know very well what the Commander needs, Miranda."

"Then try to be quick about it," the other woman said. "Otherwise I will before force to take _some _sort of action."

He hard Liara give a low voiced reply, then a few steps and he felt her lay a gentle hand on his upper arm.

"She's going to be all right, Garrus," she said gently and looked down at the Commander. "Everyone is doing all they can for her. Believe me, I have been checking on her everyday. She's getting better."

"…I should have been there with her Liara," he said softly. "I should have had her back. If I had been there, if I hadn't let her persuade me to go back to the Normandy I could have.."

"It would haven't have made a difference," the words were spoken with some conviction. "I was there, remember? James and I, we did everything we could for her but she insisted on going ahead. You know how she gets when the fighting starts."

He did know, that was the worst of it. Shepard was never content to stay behind the lines. Of course she would have been the first out in something like that. That was _why _he should have been there! He could have pulled her back, or been there with her. Guarded her. Now the only thing he could do was be here when she woke up.

"You know I need to be here," he said quietly, "I can't leave, Liara."

"You think I don't understand that?" her voice was equally quiet but there was an edge to it. "I was _right _there Garrus, and I could do nothing. You think that I don't want to be here, with her, making sure she recovers? I've been worrying every moment of every day since we found her." Her voice half broke. "I would stay here if I could, but you know Miranda is right. The only thing we can do here is get in the way. But there are other things we can do, away from here, to make sure everything that Shepard worked for holds together. When she wakes up, don't you want to be able to tell her that everything is going fine and all the races were still working together to rebuild?"

He knew that he had technically most of that was things Miranda had already said. It didn't make any logical sense why they felt more _real _when Liara said them, but they did. Maybe it was because he _knew _that she meant them. With Miranda there would always be that doubt lurking in his mind at what her motives behind her words were. No matter what Shepard said, he couldn't shake that.

Liara though, she was a friend. She had been with Shepard at the beginning, and he knew that tone of voice. The asari cared about Shepard, maybe even as something more than a friend if the rumors to be believed. He had never had reason to believe they were true before, but, well, if they were then she would understand where he was coming from more than most.

"I don't want her to wake up alone again," he told the asari. Once, after she had saved him on Omega, he had asked her about what it was like to wake up from the dead. Both of them had been more than a little drunk at the time, and she had admitted how terrifying it had been to wake up on that slab, alone, with only a voice telling her what to do and enemies around her. It was one of the few times he had ever heard her sound truly frightened. Even though that had been before they had gotten together, he had still made a promise with himself that he wouldn't let her go through anything like that by herself again. Waking up here, surrounded by machines, guards and doctors, what would that be like for her?

"She won't be alone," Miranda said impatiently. "We'll have someone by standby at all times for when she wakes. We can explain and.."

"Because having a doctor come visiting is _so _comforting," he couldn't help saying. "Nothing at _all _like anything else she's been through." The jab made Miranda frown. He took a breath. " She's going to need a friendly face, not one of your goons."

"They aren't…" Miranda sighed. "I've been monitoring the readouts personally. I should know the moment she starts to come around, and I'll send you a message immediately. Will that suffice?"

He knew it wouldn't, not really. But there was a sudden urgent beep from one of the machines, something that causes Miranda to frown and push past him to check on. Another reminder, no matter how much it hurt, he really wasn't of much use here.

As Miranda muttered about something on the machine, Liara whispered softly. "I have my own programs watching the machines. I'm not an expert but I should know anything as soon as Miranda does." That did make him feel a bit better.

"Well?" Miranda had turned around now and was _looking _at him.

"..Give me a few minuets," he said at last. "Then I'm gone for a while." He turned his head to pin Miranda with a look of his own. "I'll be back though. I'm not leaving her alone."

The former Cerberus agent looked as if she would like to argue with him, but for some reason she didn't. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow then. Along with _everyone else_. You need to let her rest. I'll give you five more minuets, then I'm having you dragged out of here." She turned and left then, going to talk to the guards outside. Liara hesitated, then gave his arm a last pat before following her, leaving him alone with Shepard.

He was silent as he looked down at her, his hand still gripping hers. His thumb rubbed her knuckles gently, and then he leaned down to brush his forehead against hers.

"This isn't what I meant by coming back alive, Shepard," he said softly. "I know you're shit at following orders sometimes, but please let this be one of the few times that you actually listen. I'll keep coming back until you wake up and tell me to stop." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Come back to me Shepard. I don't think I can deal with this alone."

He stayed that way until Miranda came and reminded him that he had to go.

Liara was waiting for him in the hallway. The guards seemed amused by something as he went by them, but were silent.

"Thank you," he said to the asari as they started back down the hall.

"I realized that something like that might happen after I sent you the message," she admitted. "Miranda has been very protective of Shepard since I asked her to help, and I knew that she might object to you being there." A small smile touched her lips. "Although after everything the two of you have been though, I doubt she could have kept you from Shepard."

"The message was part of what I was thanking you fo…" the rest of her words registered with him then. "You're the one that dragged Miranda into this?" He didn't try to hide the accusation in his tone.

"You didn't see her when we found her, Garrus," Liara's voice was shaky. "Goddess…I wasn't sure she would make it. We got her to help as fast as we could, but I was still so worried. Miranda had been here, helping. No matter what she was before, you have to admit that she's probably the one that knows Shepard best at this point. She would help."

"Do you trust her?"

"I'm not sure," the asari admitted. "But I know that she's trying her best and I know that Shepard did seem to trust her."

"I'm still going to be much happier when Dr. Chakwas gets here," he fully intended to tell the Normandy's doctor where the Commander personally, if Liara hadn't gotten to it already. She knew the Commander was alive, he had told her that himself, but he wasn't sure the good doctor knew the details. While he wasn't sure how she felt about Miranda, he would personally feel better with Chakwas there to keep an eye on things. Besides, having here there when she woke up…that would be good for Shepard.

"I was wondering why she wasn't with you," Liara admitted. "I know that my messages reached the Normandy and I had gotten word that it had crashed, but nothing else." She looked at him curiously.

"The Normandy slammed into the other side of the planet," he said softly. "We plowed into a jungle of some kind. It knocked out power and communications for a bit…I have _never _seen Joker that panicked before in his life. There wasn't any major settlements nearby, which is probably why the Reapers had left that area alone. Of course that meant there wasn't any patrols nearby either. We did get short range communications back up in time to contact someone and they brought over supplies. Private messages didn't start coming though until after that." Most communications had been limited to 'necessary for the war effort' before the final battle against the reapers. Personal messages, even highly encrypted ones like Liara's had been, were moving much slower than military messages. Even though he realized why she hadn't set her messages as higher priority than they were, he still wished she had done it. It would have saved a lot of heart ache.

"Once I knew she was stable, and what they were planning I decided that you and well, the rest of the Normandy crew really, at least deserved to know that she was alive," she said softly. "Not knowing any thing at all, I couldn't imagine what that was like."

He decided he wasn't going to tell her about receiving broadcasts that Shepard was dead. "Believe me, that was one of the most welcome messages I've ever received," was what he said instead. It was the complete and utter truth too. He didn't like to think about the way it had felt when EDI had tapped into the Alliance feeds and a report that Shepard had been confirmed dead had come in. Like someone had blown a hole in him, only there was no bullet, no bleeding, just the pain that came with it. Pain that transformed into a kind of numbness for a while. "Everyone else gave a sigh of relief too when it came though," he couldn't help adding, not wanting to remember that time. "Although I'm not sure how 'secret' her condition is going to stay once _everyone _gets here."

"Where is the rest of the crew?" They passed through the second set of guards as she asked that question. The Marine's watched them but didn't even move. "I haven't seen anyone else besides you."

"Joker didn't want to leave the Normandy until she was able to get airborne and move somewhere safer," he said. "Most of the crew is staying to help with that. I was going to wait too, but I was more or less thrown on to the supply shuttle and told to 'go find Shepard'."

If he was being honest with himself, he hadn't fought that order as much as he should have. Yes, Tail and most of the others were insistent, although _how _so many people had found out about his relationship with Commander he didn't know, but there was no one of high enough rank to really force him to do anything on the ship. He had more or less been Shepard's second in command for most of the mission. A good Turian would never have abandoned responsibility like that, no matter the reason and the competency of everyone else on board.

Then again, he had always been bad at being a proper turian.

"So the rest of them should be here soon?"

"Yeah," he responded, "Dr. Chakwas was going to come with me, but she had patients that she didn't want to leave until she was sure they were settled somewhere." When an alarmed expression flickered across her face he cursed himself for not realizing how that would sound. "It's nothing life threatening. Ship crashes aren't exactly gentle, so we had a few minor injuries. They'll be back on their feet in no time."

"That's…good," Liara said slowly as they reached the final checkpoint out into the hospital. Despite the fact that it felt like it had been hours since he had last been here, little time had passed that the guards hadn't even changed shifts. One of them appeared intent on acting professional, but he could almost feel the heat of the glare the other gave him. Liara must have noticed too, because she gave the guard such a curious look he blushed and looked away from them.

"Did you really threaten them?" she asked once they were through.

"Only because they were being idiots and wouldn't listen to me," he responded automatically. "It's not like I was asking the _impossible _after all. One call to turian command or even their own superiors could have cleared things right up."

"You shouldn't have been that hard on them," Liara tried to sound stern but there was a sort of half smile on her face. "They were just following orders after all. I am entirely surprised they even you through after that."

"Yeah, Admiral Shepard's endorsement might have had something to do with that," he said slowly. Now that he had assured himself that _his _Shepard really was alive, was here, and was recovering, his mind was free to contemplate the elder Shepard woman. He had faced down everything from Geth, to Cerberus, gone on suicide missions, fought Collectors and Reapers….yet for some reason none of them had never brought on the sort of nerves that thinking about a Talk with Admiral Shepard did.

"Admiral.." Liara's mouth fell open into a small 'o' for a moment. "So…you've meet her?"

"Only for a little while, and yes," he said in response to the unspoken question in hr voice, "she knows about Shepard and me. Or, well the Commander and me. _Us _anyway." He reached up to rub the side of his neck nervously. A human gesture he had picked up on the Normandy but it seemed to fit here. "Not sure about the _approving _part of it though."

That did seem to surprise Liara. "Why wouldn't she? You and Shepard have been though so much together…and she did go though all the trouble of letting you see her. She's been nothing put polite and friendly when I've spoken with her, so it's not likely she has a problem with other races."

"Humans have never been at war with asair," he pointed out. "And I think her being okay with aliens in general is a just a _little _different from her being completely and utterly fine with one dating her only child."

"That.." she said thoughtfully, "I had forgotten how strange humans would be about things like that."

"I guess I'll just have to win the Admiral Shepard over with my considerable wit and charm," he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. They were walking through the hospital proper now and were forced to slow down because of the press of people. Medical personnel, patients, soldiers, and visitors all rushing through the halls intent on getting somewhere. "Managed to do it once before after all." He paused.

"You know her, right? Is she anything like the Commander?" If he could find out a little more about the Admiral, figure out what she was like, maybe he could figure out someway to approach her that _didn't _involve him screwing things up again.

Now they were forced to raise their voices as the entered a larger area. At one time it had probably been a waiting room for the hospital. Now all chairs had been removed to make way for rows and rows of cots. Here were those who weren't as badly wounded and could be left to recover on their own but were juuust high ranking enough they warranted a spot here. It wasn't as quiet here as it was in the rest of the hospital because of so many gathered in an open area. You could hear the pain in some of the voices. There just wasn't enough medical staff to get to everyone.

"We've only talked a few times," Liara said as they stopped in a small corner of the room, out of the way of a team of medical personnel that had come rushing by. "She's a bit like her daughter I suppose, but she isn't quiet as flexible as the Commander is in…what's wrong?"

Garrus tried to choke back the sound he had made. "It's, uh, nothing," he said quickly. Maybe a bit _too _quickly from the look she was giving him. Well, she was just going to remain confused about this one. Luckily the way was clear now and he took it as an excuse to dodge out the doors.

It was raining outside. He vaguely remembered it had been the same earlier, when he had arrived, but he hadn't been paying much attention to what the weather was doing then. At least it explained the outfit that Liara was wearing, and it was just water.

"What will you do now?" she asked as she came up beside him and drew her hood up.

He sighed. "Probably follow Miranda's suggestion and check in with turian command. Just don't tell her that."

"I won't," was the promise that came with an amused smile.

"What about you?" he asked as he moved out the way of the doors. There was a small crowd here. Mostly military trying to make their way, although there was a small group of relatives and friends who were here looking for loved ones. The latter he felt a pang of sympathy for. Given what the Reapers had _done _to the people they captured, well, it was unlikely there was even a body left for them to mourn.

Liara was also looking at that small crowd. "I've been keeping busy. I've been trying to reestablish my networks, and get a better picture what's happening in the rest of the galaxy. I haven't had as much luck as I wish I was, so I've been helping with the organization here as well. It's most logistics and working with supplies, but" she blinked a little and looked away, her eyes wet. "…I've been helping make lists of the wounded…and the dead. It's not much and things are still so confused we don't have much information, but at least we might be able to help someone that's searching for answers." She was twisting her fingers around each other now. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure they appreciate it," they both knew that it had been each of them waiting like that not that long ago, not sure of what had happened and fearing the worst. He took his hand off her shoulder and tried not to think about those painful memories. "So I'll be seeing you around here?"

"Of course," was the reply, "I….I've been keeping an eye on Shepard too. It will be nice to have someone else to talk to." A friend she meant, he could read that in her voice without even trying.

"Yeah," he said then shook his head. "Well, time to get back to work before I drive myself insane, and hope the Primarch hasn't heard about that little…incident earlier."

"Good lucky," Liara said with a smile before they split and he set to work composing a message that would, hopefully make up for not reporting in right away.

0o0o0

Victus' reply was surprisingly quick given how much pressure he had to be under. Below the coordinates that gave the location of the command post, there was a small note from the other man mentioning he was glad that he was 'glad you're alive and mostly unharmed'. Now Garrus just felt guilty. In his own rush to get to Shepard he had completely forgotten that there might be people who were looking for him too.

It was thirty minuets on foot to where his people had set up command, but luck was on his side for once and there was a transport heading in that direction. He managed to make it in under ten minutes. After that little fiasco back at the hospital it was something of a relief for the guards here to meet him with salutes and 'sir'. That sort of respects still sent shocks of uneasiness through him. He had started to get used to it back on Menea,, but part of him still felt that this was just a mistake on someone's part. It didn't feel like something he had earned for himself. During odd moments he still had to stop himself from glancing over his shoulder to see who people were really talking to.

One of the guards told him that the Primarch was waiting for him, which wasn't that surprising. There was still a massive amount to do before the turian forces could get organized enough to leave earth. All hands were needed for that.

He found his friend in the center of the building, arguing with someone over the com. Garrus caught the other man's eye and received a nod in return. As he waited for the Primarch to finish with his conversation, he walked around the room exchanging quiet words with some of the other turians there, trying to get a sense of the situation here in London.

"It's good to see you, Vakiran," were the first words Victus said to him. There was a sense of honest relief there as they exchanged a brief arm clasp.

"It's good to see you too, sir," he said politely. "Sorry abut the wait. Ran into a little ship trouble." Garrus took a moment to study his friend. Victus didn't look like he was injured, but there was a sense of exhaustion about him. Even with the war over there were still so many emergencies he wondered if Victus even had time to sleep.

"I see," was the dry response to that, "You'll have to indulge my curiosity later." He motioned back toward the counsel he had been working at. "I would insist that I hear the story now, but there's much to do right now."

"Of course," he said, following the Primarch back over the workstation. He would have cracked a joke about the Reapers being too inconsiderate to clean up after themselves, but that didn't feel right, not with all the losses they had suffered. "What do you need me to do?"

Victus flicked something that might have been a grin at him. "You've already helped with on thing just by showing up. Now I won't be making excuses to your father anymore."

"My..father?" Garrus wasn't sure he had heard that right. How could his father have been gotten into contact with the Primarch? What was he even doing here? The last he had heard both him and Solana had been on a refugee ship!

"Yes. I believed he all but forced his way onto the fleet and insisted on taking part in the battle," The Primarch glanced at him. "He did put in a request for your where about through official channels but, unofficially…I've had several damage reports that have somehow managed to mention he would be most pleased to know if we had heard anything about you." Victus was clearly enjoying his discomfort, and his rank plus the presence of the other turians in the room kept Garrus from shooting back the reply he would like.

"That does sound like something he would do," he said instead. "I'm just surprised the Heirarchy let him do it." His father had been retired. It should have taken much longer for anyone to get back into service. Not to mention it was hard to imagine his father, his _father _of all people, coming that close to outright breaking the rules just for _information._

"We needed every soldier we could get," Victus reminded him. "Your father's history and abilities made him invaluable. He's been organizing transportation of some of the wounded from the ground back up to the ships."

Said like that, it was all to easy to picture his father stepping up and ordering around everyone in the operation He knew his father well enough to be able to admit that he was good at taken control of situations…even if there were situations only he saw the importance of. At least he was still alive. There had been so many ships during that battle, he didn't want to think about how close his father had come to dying up there.

"I'm surprised he unbent enough to slip in a request like that." Better to think of that surprise than to remember how close he had been to losing him.

"He's your father, Garrus. He's worried," Victus had gone slightly tense. "This war has been hard on all of us. Isn't it natural to want to confirm what we do have left?"

Suddenly Garrus remembered that his friend had lost a _son _to this mess, and with a rush of guilt that no one in his family had been given enough time to properly morn his mother before the Reapers hit, and he had barely even thought about her, him included. It almost felt like a betrayal to her, to forget about her so easily. You could blame the war and the Reapers, but he knew his father hadn't forgotten. He was just doing it again, screwing up where it mattered.

"I'll send my father a message," he said. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he would. It was the very least he owed the man. Even if he didn't always see eye to eye, Victus was right. It was still has father. "But I don't think you wanted me here to talk about family. What else do you need me to do?" Anything at all to change the subject.

Thankfully, Victus seemed as eager to focus on something else as he was. "I need someone to be our go-between for the Alliance forces while we help with organization and prepare to pull out. You have the rank for the job, and more importantly you served with Commander Shepard. You're more familiar with the Alliance than anyone else here right now."

"I'm not really a politician," he said, trying not to wince as he remembered his little confrontation. He doubted the Alliance would be thrilled to have 'that crazy turian' as a liaison between them and his people. Besides, he was still getting used to having his own people regard him with any respect. How was he suppose to get the Alliance to listen to him?

Victus gave a quiet snort that was probably far to undignified for a Primarch. "I'm not asking you to be one, at least not right now. I just need someone who's familiar with humans and who can get their respect. You served on a human vessel with a living legend. That's more than enough to qualify you for both points."

"You have a point, sir," he was forced to admit. He wouldn't think of anyone else who had anything close to the sort of experience he did. "What do you need me to do?"

He worked alongside his friend for a while, dealing with reports from the fields and trying to keep up-to-date lists of the wounded and dead that the human patrols had found. His heart sank whenever he realized there were far more of the latter. It didn't escape his notice that the Primarch kept looking at him oddly. Almost as if he was puzzled or waiting for Garrus to grow a second head, and he could not think of a single reason for his friend to be looking at him that way.

Before he could come up with a way to call him out on it, Victus answered his unspoken question. "Are you really all right, Vakarian?" It was during a small lull in the reports coming in and it gave him the room to relax a bit.

"What, don't believe me, Sir?" he said as politely as he could. Inwardly he was running over what he could have said to make his friend doubt him.

"I'm not sure," Victus leaned against his workstation. "You're just…calmer than I expected."

"I'm not sure I understand."

Victus glanced around them quickly then dropped his voice slightly when he was sure on one was close enough to hear. "You haven't even _mentioned _Shepard's name since you arrived here. I was sure I was going to have to keep you from dragging men off for a search party."

Garrus froze. "Ah.." it honestly hadn't occurred to him that the Alliance would have kept the truth about Shepard from even the Primarch. His own fault for not realizing that they wouldn't be willing to trust someone so far up in the Hierarchy. Now what was he suppose to do? He was sure that Victus wouldn't intentionally do anything that would endanger Shepard, but he also knew that his friend's rank and title meant he didn't have the luxury to keep secrets. If duty forced Victus to tell someone where she was, and someone who wished her harm overheard… "I went looking for her before I contacted you," he said to buy some time. "I got kicked out of the hospital after awhile. They acted like I was making a nuisance of myself."

He did not want to lie to someone who he owed both his loyalty and friendship. But he didn't want to betray Shepard either, and he was sure that was what her caretakers would call it. On the other hand, his people would call him keeping it to himself treason in it's own right. A good turian wouldn't even think about keeping this to himself. Not something he normally cared about, but Vicuts was a friend.

"You gave up that easily?" If Victus had heard anything regarding the 'crazy turian' from that area he didn't show it. Instead he dropped his voice even lower. "Garrus," and suddenly he knew it wasn't the Primarch talking but just Adrian Victus, "I know damn well how much she meant to you. Your little display before the battle just made it even more obvious. You really want me to believe that you're going to shrug and walk away when you don't know what happened to her? That isn't like you." He sounded worried.

Garrus was almost going to tell him the truth, but then he pictured what would happen if a bunch of turians suddenly knew where the Commander was. Saying Miranda would be annoyed would be an understatement. The Alliance leaders probably wouldn't be very happy about it either. They might try to ban him from seeing Shepard again. Even if he managed to get past Miranda at least, Admiral Shepard probably wouldn't forgive him for it. Not that he wasn't willing to face her down, but if he made an enemy of her it would hurt Shepard. That wasn't fair to her. Damn, why did his luck have to drop decisions like this on him?

He had to say _something. _Victus was looking at him. "You don't know Shepard like I do," he said at last. "She's tough. She'll come back."

He knew it didn't fool the Primarch for a second. Victus actually looked as if he wanted to say something, but one of his men came up with a question and he was forced to make do with only a look that said he was going to bring it up later.

Garrus went back to work, trying to ignore the knot of guilt in his chest. All he had to do was stick it out until the rest of the Normandy crew arrived. He doubted that even the Alliance would be able to keep it secret with that many people wanting to see Shepard. He would tell Victus everything then, and hope that he would forgive him for that tiny bit of betrayal.

He just hoped that by then Shepard would be awake and helping him explain. She had to wake up soon. She_ had _to.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: OKAY, FINALLY DONE WITH THIS. Sorry this took so long people. Parts of the chapter were just _fighting_ with me. There's just so much dialog in this chapter and I was frantic about getting it exactly right. Trying to keep Garrus in character during emotional scenes is hard for me, and I wanted to make sure it came out perfect. I figured he might want to get along with Hannah but he would be more than willing to fight for Shepard if challenged.

I almost split this into two chapters when I was writing it. I reach the part where she goes into the room, apused, and wondered if I should just post that and leave the talk for it's own sperate chapter. But then I wasn't sure hte talk alone would be long enough for a chapter on it's own. :| I am very bad at estimating word counts.  
Also I kinda ship Hannah/Victus so I had to rework their dialog at some points because it sounded too...flirty for what I wanted here.

Next chapter has a 100% chance of more Shepard

OoOo

Hannah Shepard finished reading over the latest inventory report that had been sent her way, and shook her head. She dashed off a quick reply to the field doctor who had made another note that they were running low on supplies and needed them now, reminding him that his request was cleared but the supplies could only arrive as fast as the shuttle could get there. The message was short and probably not as professional as it should be, but she didn't care. Normally she would be a bit more sympathetic, but this was the fifth message inside the hour, and this was not the first time the doctor had tried to pull more supplies than he needed. She already disliked the man and she hadn't even talked to him over vidcom yet.

As her terminal bleeped with a 'message sent' she took the opportunity to stretch, wincing as something in her back popped in an unpleasant way. Damn. She couldn't tell if that was from her recent injuries or if it was just another sign that she wasn't as young as she used to me. She hoped it was the former. Old she could deal with. Decrepit was something she didn't want to contemplate.

There was a tiny knock on the wall behind her. "Ma'am?"

She swiveled around in her chair, unsurprised to see the woman standing there. Lieutenant Dorthea Mansfield was officially classified as her assistant, but in reality they both knew she was here to keep an eye on her superior. Hannah couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of envy that the tall woman didn't look that much different than she had when she had served on her ship several years ago. She'd gained some muscle and a few scars but still wore her blond hair shaved close and still had those stormy gray eyes that made her hard to read. She wondered why Mansfield had even bothered to knock. Her 'office' was just a desk thrown in the corner of a mostly intact building. There wasn't even a door left in the frame that lead into it.

"Lieutenant," she said by way of greeting, "I take it this means that I'm about to get thrown out?"

"I'm bit more polite than that, ma'am," Mansfield said, a small smile crossing her lips and making her seem less harsh. "But I do have orders to remind you that you're 'only human, damn it.' I assume that means I'm to make sure you take a break when you're scheduled to."

"Next time Hackett gives you order like that, could you kindly remind him that I'm not made of glass and I'm not an invalid?" Hannah rolled her shoulders a bit. "I'm only a few days away from being cleared. I don't need a _minder,_ especially when all I've been allowed to do is sit at a desk for days. I doubt paperwork is going to kill me." That seemed to be the mindset of half the people that she ran into. They kept asking her if she needed to rest or take a break. It had been going on for days and she was getting very, very tired of it.

"I don't know about that Admiral. I would probably die of boredom," Mansfield quipped, startling a chuckle from her. "While I respect you, admire you, Admiral, and I have no problem standing up to Admiral Hackett for you, I do not want to face another lecture by your doctor. Man doesn't need a gun when he can rip you to pieces with his tongue."

She shook her head, trying to hold back a laugh at the truth of that statement. "You don't know the half it, Mansfield. _I'm _the one who had to listen to him rave about me walking around before he thought I was ready. As if I don't know my body well enough to tell when I'm pushing it to far."

"If you say so ma'am," was the polite reply, but she didn't miss the Lieutenant trying to hide a smile.

"Something amusing, Mansfield?" She sent a glare at the Lieutenant as she spoke but didn't try to hide her own smile.

Mansfield snapped up straighter. "Nothing, ma'am!" You could still see that smile though. Hannah let herself sigh and shake her head.

"Half my men seem to think they know more than I do," she couldn't help comment as she got to her feet and found her cane. At least the Lieutenant didn't try to help her up this time. The one thing she had made very clear she would not tolerate that. She was a rear admiral, commander of a ship of her own. She didn't need a nursemaid.

"I don't suppose there's something I could offer you that would convince you to look the other way for a couple of hours?" She was tired of being treated with kid gloves. There had to be _something _they would let her work at.

"Afraid not, Ma'am," was the calm reply. "I'm here to make sure you actually make it to the hospital in time." Hannah resisted the urge to snap at her. She also knew, from past experience, that if she tried to hang around to do something else in another part of the building, someone else would report her to Hackett. Then would come the lecture about her health. She was not going to suffer through another of those.

"Fine then, let's go and get this over with." At least each visit she took to that damn place was one closer to her being released, and her daughter was there. She would go vist after her appointment if they wouldn't let her back to work.

~O~O~O~O~O~O

The hospital seemed slightly more crowded than usual when she arrived. She might have just waved it off as her own temper getting the better of her, but then she noticed most of the new arrivals were turian. Even though she knew turians were being treated here, there were more than she had seen before strolling the premises. Not enough to really be alarming, but they didn't look injured or if they were there searching for friends. They were standing in pairs talking, alert and scanning the crowds for any signs of trouble. She knew security when she saw it, but she couldn't imagine why they were _here _of all places. There was already a multi-species security detail assigned to the area. Unless there had been a threat of some kind she wasn't aware of, the soldiers would have been of more use elsewhere. It just didn't seem like the turians to waste manpower over something minor.  
There was still no answer she could see by the time she reached her doctor, and put it out mind in favor of dealing with his 'you are working to hard' arguments. They'd been playing this game since she was injured, and each time left her feeling like she wanted to strangle the man. At least the end was in sight for both of them. The man might not be happy about it, but he was letting her go in a couple of days. Even if it was with a 'I don't want to do this but I suppose I must' attitude in his every word. Attitude she could deal with, even if it was getting under her skin and making her want to growl. Some of her crewmembers could be worse. Not many, but some. She had to remember that.

"Just be sure that you have that hip looked at regularly," he warned as she stood to leave after the physical. "You keep abusing it without regular care and you _are _going to end up limping around for the rest of your life. Don't say I didn't warn you about that!"

"I'll keep that in mind," she called over her shoulder to him as she left the room, making way for another of his patients.

Once outside his office she turned her steps toward the guarded wing of the hospital. Hackett wouldn't let her _do _anything if she headed back right away. There was already a neat little message on her omnitool telling her that much. At least she could sit with Lil for a time. She was allowed to stay longer now, something she actually was grateful for.

One of the various Normandy crew members that had been turning up over the last three days had been the ship's doctor. Dr. Chakwas had argued with Lawson about the restrictions placed on visitors. She still wasn't sure what the older woman had said to Lawson, but after that she hadn't had the former Cerberus agent breathing down her neck over how long she was there. Granted she hadn't seemed happy the last time they had run into each other, but at least she wasn't trying to stop her.

Of course, those lessening restrictions applied to anyone cleared to see Lil. _Everyone. _Hannah took a deep breath and tried to keep from frowning at the thought of how often Vakarian had been all but haunting her daughter's room. Four days since she had meet the man and she still wasn't sure what to think of that relationship. She would like to think her trepidation only had to do with not having a single clue about what the man was really like, but if she was being honest with herself she would have to admit that him being turian might have more to do with her feelings than she would like. She had thought she was above the prejudice the Alliance had tried to drill into her. Apparently she had been wrong.

She didn't even really have much reason _to _object to Vakarian yet. They hadn't even had a decent conversation. There had been a few chances for it, but neither of them had known how to start that sort of talk, and message pings from omnitools had become a welcome distraction. She knew it was cowardly, avoiding it instead of facing things head on. Maybe there was just a part of her that was afraid of what her daughter would do if she decided she didn't like the turian. She and Lil just weren't as close as they had been when she had been younger. Hannah didn't want to do something that would outright drive her away. She wasn't even sure what _would _drive her away anymore or if Lil even wanted her in her life anymore. She certainly had seemed to be intent on keeping herself aloof the last time they had talked. It was an uncomfortable feeling, and one she still wasn't sure what to do about.

The gloomy direction of her thoughts was shattered when she rounded the corner that lead to the check point and stopped dead. At least having the turian Primarch in the hospital explained the security presence in the sector. It just didn't explain what he was _doing _here. She started walking again, trying to edge around as unobtrusively as she could but something must have alerted him because he looked over at her.

"Admiral Shepard," he said soft in greeting, "I didn't think I would run into you here."

"Primarch Victus," she said politely. She had meet the Primarch previously when he had come to see the Crucible personally, not wanting to rely on reports to describe what was the final hope for all their peoples. That was something she had to respect. "I could say the same for you. I wasn't aware that you were injured." Not that she thought he really was. The Primarch wasn't unmarked but he didn't look as if he had any injuries severe enough to bring him all the way here.  
Besides, if the highest-ranking turian on the planet had been hurt _that_badly she would have heard something about it by now. Gossip was one thing that all species seemed to share.

He must have known that because he made a noise she _thought _might have been amused. "I could say the same for you," he said, amused. "I'm not here for myself. General Corinthus managed to get himself shot and your people have been treating him. They've been doing an admirable job, but now he's stable enough to be transferred. I think that would be best for him. Not that your doctors haven't been doing their best..."

"But they're humans and he's a turian," she said noticing several low pitched growls that were more heard than felt. Apparently some of his men didn't approve of her cutting on their Primarch. At least Victus didn't seem to mind. He seemed more amused by his men's reaction than anything else. "Most of the doctors here are Alliance and more used to treating humans. They'll probably be relieved to hand him over."

"Considering half them seemed to want to dance with joy when I told them about the transfer, I would have to agree with you on that," the Primarch chuckled. "Now they won't have to worry about accidentally killing Corinthus with levo exposure."

"They'll probably be sending you thank you cards then," she said, "but that doesn't explain why you came personally. I can't imagine that Primarchs normally oversee patient transfers."

That got another chuckle. "Corinthus served under me. He's a good soldier; the least I could do was see to this personally."

By now Hannah had noticed that most of his men weren't really paying attention to their conversation anymore. One still looked as if they didn't like her informal tone, but since the Primarch wasn't taking offense at it he couldn't really shoo her away. He probably didn't have any idea that she and the Primarch had talked several times while he was at the Crucible. Not enough for her to be able to call him friend exactly, but enough that she had some measure of the sort of man he was. A soldier, not a politician. "Your loyalty to your men is admirable," she said out loud. She's sure there's more to it than that, but she's not going to push him.

He gives a slight nod. "It's the least I can do," is the reply. The Primarchs mandibles twitch after he says it. "What about you, Admiral?" his gaze flickered toward her cane. She hadn't had it the last time she had talked with him. "A personal visit?" Curiosity was something that apparently ran across all species. At least she was fairly sure he wouldn't laugh at her story.

"I was careless and got slammed into a wall when my ship took a hit," she answered his unspoken question. "I didn't think I was that badly hurt. It wasn't until the end of the battle when the adrenaline started to wear off that I realized I shouldn't really be walking around. The medical team stuck me on leave the moment they got a good look at me."

"You're walking around now," the Primarch observed. "I take it that means you're recovering well? Or just avoiding doctor's orders?"

"I'll be returned to active duty in a few days," she didn't try to keep the relief out of her voice. "Which I am grateful for. I thought the inactivity would drive me mad. I have too much to do to be sitting around all day."

That got a chuckle out of him, even if it was a strained one. "I think everyone has that feeling at the moment. Not enough hands for everything that needs to be done." There was something in his voice that made her look closely at him. If it had been one of her men, she would have said it was exhaustion. Was it the same for turians? She still couldn't really read the subtle changes in their voices well, but she couldn't imagine they would be all that different from humans.

She settled on what she hoped was a more subtle response. "I have to keep an eye on my men because of that," she said slowly, "those that made it out mostly unharmed feel guilty about and keep pushing themselves. I have to keep remind them that pushing yourself too much will only make you wreck yourself and be unable to help anyone." And then hoped she hadn't misread everything and made a fool of herself.

The Primarch blinked, at her, his mandibles flared, and for a heartstopping moment she thought that she had presumed too much and managed to insult him. Then he made a soft sound that seemed like a sigh and one of his men snorted.  
"See, sir?" the man, a turian with light grey skin and vivid purple markings, said. "I told you that you need to take a rest. You haven't taken a real break since the reapers first hit. You aren't going to last much longer if even humans are noticing." He paused and looked at her in alarm, mandibles wide on his face as he realized what he just said. "Sorry ma'am, I didn't mean any disrespect."

She couldn't help chuckling a little at that expression. "None taken. I will freely admit I'm not an expert on turians. Believe me, I'm sure if _I_have suspicions then it's outright obvious to everyone else."

"I would suspect this was a trap that my men laid to convince me to rest for a day, but I'm not sure that it would occur to any of them to recruit a human for a venture like that," he turned his gaze on the man who had just spoken, who stood a little straighter. Then he flicked amber eyes back to her. "What about you, Admiral? I can't imagine that this has been easy for you either but you seem to be doing well, despite everything." He was giving her an appraising look.

"You can thank my doctors for that. If you think your men are bad, imagine how bad they would be when they had orders to look after your health, and taking it as their sworn duty to enforce every order the doctors had given."

The Primarch gave an amused snort in response to both her comment and the grumbling from one his men that sounded vaguely like 'We should be so lucky' before he replied. "Your men must care about you a great deal if they're willing to go through that kind of trouble. You should be honored. "

"I am," she said. "I've just been lucky to attract people as loyal as they are."

The Primarch's reply was unexpected. "Luck that you seemed to have shared with your daughter. She was remarkably adept at finding loyal crew members."

"She still is, I imagine," was her reply. "You shouldn't count her out just yet. She'll be back." It was only after the words left her mouth that they sounded slightly accusatory and she tensed. Her own fears were affecting her judgment now. That was not good. She had thought that she had learned better self-control over the years, but like so many other things, it appeared she was wrong about that.

Instead of seeming to be insulted, however, the Primarch just gave her a measuring look. "You seem so sure of that," he said at last. "Your faith is admirable. Almost as if you have a reason beyond just wishful thinking to support it."

Hannah felt her heart leap. Victus was no fool. He had already proved that during the war. She didn't think the man would hold any ill will towards her daughter, but after all the effort they had put into keeping things quiet for this long she didn't feel like giving up the secret that easily. "Call it mother's intuition. You've met my daughter. You know how stubborn she is. Do you really think even a Reaper could be able to take her out?"

That brought on a bark of laughter from him. "I will admit, if there's anyone who would be able to come back from the Reapers, it would be Commander Shepard. She's already come back from the impossible once." Hannah squashed down the familiar feeling of fear and pain that shot through her whenever someone mentioned her daughter's previous 'death'. She still had no clear answers for what had happened then and didn't like to remember the time spent mourning her.  
Victus started speaking again. "Perhaps that's why I've heard an...interesting rumor about her where about recently." He looked directly at her as he said it, his eyes meeting hers briefly.

"Which one? There's been a shit-ton of rumors floating around Primarch, most entirely baseless." Was what her mouth said. Inwardly she was cursing, hoping Victus wasn't getting at what he thought he was. She had been afraid of this ever since the rest of her daughter's crew had been arriving. Secrets were hard to keep when so many people knew about them. Someone was bound to let something slip, eventually. This secret had been hard to keep before, but now it was going to be nearly impossible.

"True," was Victus' reply. "I've been ignoring most of them. This one, however, seems to have some credibility."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a feeling combined with my own observation," his eyes still held that far-to-knowing gaze. "I've seen you in action, Admiral, and I looked at your service record. Someone with your sense of duty could perhaps be able to maintain a professional calm even without news of your daughter. Others, however, shouldn't be showing that sort of...restraint."

"You mean like Garrus Vakarian?" she couldn't help asking. She knew, just from reading reports the Alliance had sent her about the Normandy, that he had been an advisor to the Primarch. On board her ship she had even overheard the Primarch speaking with the other turian over a secure channel when she went to place a report of her own. It wasn't a secret that Vakarian had been serving on the Normandy either. She could very well guess where the Primarch was going with his line of reasoning. What surprised her was that she was going along with it.

"You know him?" that did bring some surprised into the Primarch's voice as his mandibles flared slightly.

"We've...met."

"I see," the Primarch stood a little straighter. "Then you should understand what I meant. He and your daughter were...close. It's unlike him not to be personally pursuing any sort of rescue or recovery mission. The only conclusion that makes sense is that he knows something that I don't." There's a sound in his subvocals that her translator isn't even trying to touch, and she doesn't have a clue what it could mean. Not that it really mattered anyway. She shouldn't be surprised that a turian military leader was clever as he was.

"If he knew something important I'm sure that he would tell you," while she did respect the man, she wasn't friendly enough with him to be willing to risk her daughter. "And I'm well aware of the relationship she and Vakarian share," she added at the end, to throw him off track. "I'm surprised you were aware of it."

"Soldiers talk between fighting, I'm sure you know that," he said after a moment. "I had my suspicions when almost all his old war stories involved Commander Shepard in some way. You could hear it in his voice how fond he was of her. They made things rather _obvious _before the final push against the reapers."

It was on the tip of Hannah's tongue to ask what he meant by that, then decided it was probably better that she didn't know. "He was serious about her?" she asked instead.

"That would not be my place to say," the Primarch locked his hands behind his back, "but most turians would not enter into something like that lightly." His mandibles flared again, confusing her. "I doubt Vakairan is that different. He's very loyal, and passionate. He tends to throw himself into things. Which is why I say it's out of character for him not to be out searching for Commander Shepard, and demanding that anyone with authority help. I expected that I would have to fight to keep him from taking men away. While I wouldn't call him exactly calm in current circumstances he has been showing far more restraint than I would think." He relaxed slightly. "He's also been leaving as soon as his shift is done. One report suggests he has been coming here."

"There are any number of wounded here. Perhaps he's just searching," was what she said in reply to the questioning tone. "I have seen him around more than once. It suggests a certain level of devotion for him to keep coming here again and again."

"As I said, turians don't make that kind of commitment lightly," he repeated with a nod. "Vakairan especially." She was getting tired of the piercing looks he was giving her. There was a reason that so many Alliance soldiers had been intimidated by that predators gaze back during the First Contact War. "I am curious just how you found out about his relationship with her. Even back on the Normandy it wasn't something either of them ever announced."

Hannah froze, trying to determine how much of the truth she should say about that. Thankfully she was saved from having to formulate a real answer by a bleep from the Primarch's omnitool. It was a struggle not to sag in relief when he checked it, sighed, then looked up at her.  
"I'm afraid our conversation will have to be cut short, Admiral. I have something I have to attend to."

"Of course," she stepped aside for him and his men. "It was nice speaking with you, Primarch." Well, only half true. She wouldn't have minded talking with him if he wasn't being so damn clever. At least it had been good to see that one more person she knew was still alive. She had already lost far too many in this war.  
He gave a nod as he left, turning to speak rapidly to one of his men as they went. She waited until he was out of sight before she slipped off down the hall to her daughter's room. He was already too suspicious of things. No need to give him any more fuel for the fire.

Down the hall, through the checkpoints, and she found Dr. Chakwas standing in front of her daughter's room, typing something on a datapad.

"Dr. Chakwas," she said by way of greeting. "Any changes so far?"

"Only very minor ones," Dr. Chakwas didn't even look up right away. "I do believe she's been improving but we won't know for sure until she actually wakes up." The good doctor finally looked back up at her. "You look better yourself, Admiral. I take it you are going to push through with the chance to be back on active duty soon?"

"Of course," Hannah glanced at the door to her daughter's room. "I've had enough of being treated like I'm made of glass."

That drew an amused laugh from the doctor. "I imagine your doctor will be pleased when he doesn't have to deal with the headache either."

She couldn't help snorting a little. "You do realize that some people might reprimand you for disrespecting a senior officer?"

"With all due respect Admiral, I have worked for the Alliance long enough to be able to tell when I can push things and when I can't," Dr. Chakwas looked up, a smile flickering across her face. "Since you haven't insisted on formality so far then I can assume I'm safe."

Hannah had developed a healthy respect for the doctor over the last few days, and had honestly enjoyed her company. They got along surprisingly well and she found herself almost wishing the woman had been assigned to her vessel. Only _almost_though. She had been a great asset to the Normandy and she was glad her daughter had been in capable hands, both then and now.

"Can I go in then?" she asked, nodding towards the door.

"Of course," there was a paused, "but I suppose it's fair to warn you that Garrus is already there."

"Already?" the word came out before she could stop it, then she sighed. "I suppose I should have expected it. He's been here how often since you lifted Miranda's ban?" she didn't mean for it to sound as accusatory as it did and forced herself to take a deep breath after it.

Dr. Chakwas gave her a crippling _look. _"Are you surprised? He would be there all day if I let him. It's probably a good thing he's assisting the Primarch. If he wasn't then I have no doubt he would be haunting the hospital. I'm still not entirely sure he's not taking a spare bed here at night."

"He's that worried?"

"Do I even _need _to answer that, Admiral?" Dr. Chakwas finally finished whatever she had been doing on the datapad. "Both of you are worried, he's just much worse at keeping it under control." It brought a sigh from the doctor. "The same could be said for all of us, truthfully. That's why Miranda placed so many restrictions, I think. It was her own way of worrying. She has seen the Commander at her absolute worst, several times over. Unfortunately I fear that's made Miss. Lawson more than a bit paranoid. She did have the Commander's best interests at heart I'm sure, but she had forgotten that she's not all knowing. Right now, the Commander doesn't need quiet, she needs the support of those she loves."

Hannah knew that the doctor had been referring to all the various friends and crew members that had arrived. It still didn't stop her mind from flashing to the turian she knew was by her daughter's bedside. "It seems like I'm the only one who didn't know about _them_," the last said with a jerk of her head towards the door.

"Parents are always the last to know," Dr. Chakwas said teasingly, but the smile she gave was more genuine. "Although I'm not sure I can say that's the case right now. The Commander was very discreet about her relationships. She always has been. The people you've been meeting, those were the ones close enough to her that they figured things out or she felt relaxed enough to tell them. Even most of her crew wasn't entirely sure of the truth. Gossip runs rampant on ships, but to most it was just rumors. No real proof, no matter what they said."

"Rumors aren't just limited to ships," Hannah couldn't help saying. "I've lost track of the number of reporters that coming buzzing around me asking if Lil really was 'in bed with the aliens'. Chased them off of course, but I thought they were just fishing. I didn't think there was any substance behind them." She remembered, rather guilty, saying something to the effect of 'Would it really matter if she was?' right before she'd had all but threw one particularly obnoxious reporter off her ship. She really hadn't thought about what she was saying at the time, but remembering it in the current circumstances was more than a little uncomfortable. "The turian Primarch seemed to know about that little relationship," she said to distract herself from her thoughts. "Maybe they weren't as discreet as you though."

"The Primarch?" Dr. Chakwas frowned and glanced at her. "He was on the ship for the war summit, and the Commander did say he was a friend of Garrus'. Perhaps that's how he found out." She shrugged, "If you're that curious why don't you try asking Garrus himself? He is right there after all." Dr. Chackwas nodded towards the door. Hannah had to wonder if the other woman had somehow found out about own avoidance.

"What makes you think he would even answer?"

"Unless it's a truly embarrassing story I can't imagine why he wouldn't," was the reply. "He isn't one to lie, even without the turian heritage backing him." A pause then. "He does want the two of you to get along, you know. Give him a chance."

She gave Chakwas a sharp look. "Is there some conspiracy I'm not aware of? That's the second time today I've heard Vakarian praised." The Primarch was at least understandable. Vakarian was a fellow turian after all. Dr. Chakwas was another matter, but they had served on a ship together. Maybe that was the source of it.

"Not a conspiracy I'm aware of," Chakwas counter, "but I am surprised you haven't heard more praise. Even the Alliance has to be aware of what he did during the war. You should have heard what some of the turians we had on board had to say about him."

In answer, Hannah just stepped up to the window and looked inside. She would see Vakarian already in a seat next to her daughter's bed, head bent down towards hers. It was impossible to ignore the reports that were connected to his name. She knew, on some level at least, that if it had anyone else she would have been whole-heartedly agree with that praise. But it wasn't just anyone. It was the turian who had somehow managed to worm his way into her daughter's heart. That was making this so much more complicated. She wasn't sure what to believe, particularly if certain parts of his history were to be believed.

"He's been good for Shepard you know," Dr. Chakwas said from behind her. "During the war I think he was one of the few things that kept her sane. He has always stood by her, no matter what."

"Now I know that something has to be going on," she turned to face the doctor. "He's a friend of yours, I understand why you feel the need to stick up for him..."

"Trust me," Dr. Chakwas said, "Garrus is more than capable of sticking up for himself. He's not the one I'm speaking for right now." She turned to a message that had come through her omnitool then, and Admiral Shepard was left unsure of what to say.

Part of her wanted to be annoyed that the doctor thought she knew her daughter well enough to be able to say that about her. Part of her knew that Dr. Chakwas had known her daughter for several years, knew what her relationship with the turian was like, and perhaps was trying to support her. The rest of her was caught up in some many conflicting emotions about someone being able to read her daughter better than she could that she couldn't even being to decipher them all. Instead she took a deep breath, pushed them all aside, and glanced back at the hospital room again.

"I should go see her," she said out loud. It felt like an admission of something but she wasn't sure what that would be.

"Of course," was the only answer from the doctor as she opened the door and went inside.

Vakarian glanced up as she came in tensing for a moment. "Admiral," he said respectfully. "Is it really that late? Didn't think you would be here for a while longer." His mandibles clicked tight against his face right after he said the words. "Sorry, I just meant.."

The first reply on the tip of her tongue was one she bit back. "Hackett isn't letting me work very long until I'm cleared. Walking wounded remember?" As she had been speaking, Vakarian started to get out of his chair, eyes on her cane.

"I remember. If you want I can.."

"Relax," she said as she limped around to the other side of the bed. Another chair had been brought into the room a couple of days ago. She remembered seeing it, and was pleased to see that it was still there. She sank down into it, hoping the action looked more controlled than it was. "I'm not kicking you out. Sit down."

He still watched her, looking slightly unsure. It was only after she was seated that he sat down as well. They sat that way, the silence uncomfortable. She noticed his hand drifted over to rest on her daughter's again, but decided she wouldn't say anything about it. Instead she leaned over, studying Lil's face in an attempt to see anything different in it today. Maybe she appeared a bit more...relaxed? Or maybe it was just her own wistful thinking that made it seem that way.

"I've been trying to talk to her," Vakarian broke the silence first. She wasn't surprised. He seemed to like talking. She turned to look at him. "Dr. Chakwas thinks it will help. Even Miranda says it _might _do something, which says something coming from her."

"I remember hearing the same," Hannah agreed. "It can't hurt. Reminds her there's something here to come back to." Although which one she would be coming back to Hannah didn't want to know. Still her words brought a slight hum from Vakarian. She didn't know for sure what that meant, but it sounded like some sort of agreement. She studied the turian for a moment, and then decided to just ask him. Dr. Chakwas was right in some ways. She needed to talk him.  
"Did you know the Primarch was here?"

"The Primarch?" Vakarian didn't look particularly surprised. "Today? I knew he was planning on coming but he didn't mention anything about specific dates to me. It's about Corinthus, right?" He shrugged, "It would make sense for him to come personally, but it's nothing I could help with. Probably why he didn't think to give me specifics."

"So, he and Corinthus are...friends?" she said out loud as she digested that. It made some sort of sense she supposed.

"Not really...hmm..." Vakarian gave an odd clicking noise and tilted his head as if considering something. "Let's just say that after Primarch Victus left Menae Corinthuswas the one who held the moon against the reapers before he came here. Succeeding at a lost cause has a tendency to impress people. Victus is well...he's a damn good Primarch. I'm not sure we would have been able to make it if it had been anyone else. But his track record and some of his decisions have made more than a few people start to question him." There was a growl at the end that she heard more than felt.

At least it answered why the Primarch had come personally. Political bullshit. "I bet he loves having to dance that little tune."

Something in her tone must have gotten through to Vakairan because his head snapped up to look at her. "You know him?"

"We meet when he came to observe the Crucible," she said mildly. "I just didn't realize how much he knew about your relationship with Lil until today. I wonder how he found that out."

"I haven't told him about where she is, if that's what you're getting at," Vakarian said, the subvocals on his voice going a little deeper. "He's a _friend. _I might have mentioned that I was close to her. Don't try to tell me that's anything wrong."

"Oh, he mentioned something about that. He also mentioned something about being 'very obvious' before the final push against the reapers," Hannah leaned back in her chair a little. "It's funny, I've never heard a turian use that tone of voice before. Something clearly amused him."

"Oh," Vakarian seemed to freeze for a second. "Hmm..." his hand left Lil's for a moment. "That's.." she noticed his finger twisting together a little as he shifted slightly in his chair. "Giving a kiss goodbye is a human tradition, isn't it? I mean, the vids seemed to make it seem like it was. Pretty sure most species have something like although turians aren't usual very umm..public about it?" He was half looking everywhere but at her by this point. It was kind of amusing actually. She had never seen a sheepish looking turian before. Apparently being awkward in front of your partner's parents was something that crossed species boundaries.

"I didn't know turians could kiss," she said out loud. That hadn't been something she had thought of before, and she wouldn't have asked if seeing him flustered wasn't slightly amusing. Besides, it would keep her from thinking about old memories long buried. Her husband was over twenty years gone, but she could still recall exactly what they had said at that last goodbye. Not something she wanted Vakarian to see on her face.  
He looked at her with wide yes, mandibles clenched tightly to his face. "We ah, don't usually? It's um, different. We can learn. Sort of. Or try to at least. With a willing partner." The subvocals in his voice had inched higher. She wondered if that was turian speak for 'really, really embarrassed'. They couldn't blush obviously.

She supposed that Lil wouldn't be too happy with her at the moment, but she was her mother. It was her right to make suitors squirm.

Besides, as amusing as it was to watch him, she still had a far more important question to ask.

"Are you sure you didn't let something slip about Lil being alive? Because the Primarch all but told me he knew she was when we spoke."

"What?" Vakarian blinked a little, confused by the change of subject for a second. "No. Look, I know you don't really trust me, but believe me I've been being careful. I might not have said anything obvious, but Victus is smart. I wouldn't put it past him to have pieced everything together himself."

"I just thought it was odd that you would keep something like that from someone you considered a friend. If he has figured it out, even without help, what do you think he'll do with that information?"

That got a slight growl out of him. For what exactly she couldn't tell. Her implications? Just that she was keeping up uncomfortable questions? It didn't matter in the end really.  
"Victus is a friend yes, but I'm well aware of the Primarch of Palaven. He might guess she's alive, but he doesn't know where she is, and I'm never going to let that slip." One of his hands had dropped to his knee, fingers drumming out a nervous rhythm. "I don't think anything would happen, but I know if something did and it was a choice between Palaven and Shepard, he would give her up without a second thought. I'm not risking that."

"What about you though?" her question was quiet and she kept her voice even, but Vakairan jerked just the same. "If it was a choice between your people and Lil, what would you do?"

"What?" He was growling now, his subvocals deep enough that she could feel them. "You're going to ask _that?_Really? How can you expect someone to just answer that?"

"I know it's not an easy question," she agreed. "But I'm curious. Everyone I've met has mentioned loyalty when it comes to you. What exactly does that mean?"

"Is there even really a correct answer to that question?" Vakarian was glaring at her now voice rumbling deep enough that she felt it. "I'm by Shepard's side no matter what happens. That doesn't mean I've abandoned everything that I know, or that I've lost all loyalty to my people."

"You still haven't answered my question," she couldn't help pointing out. "You sound almost like a politician right now. One with something he doesn't want to admit to."

"I'm not answering because I don't think that's something I need to answer. What matters to me is what Shepard, _Lil, _thinks of me. She's the most important thing in the galaxy to me right now, and nothing is going to get me to abandon her. I've stayed with her, even when half the damn galaxy was against her. That isn't going to change anytime soon."

"So you'll give up your people for her? I'll admit I'm more than a bit surprised by that. I thought you turians would die rather than give up everything for a human."

"I may not be the _best _turian, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on my people," Vakairan growled, fists clenching on his knees. "I would appreciate you not putting words in my mouth like that. What I meant was that I care about Shepard. She needs me, and to be perfectly honest, I need her. More than my people need me right now. More than they could possibly ever need me. I never _want _to be away from her."

She hadn't noticed how intense his eyes were before, half because she hadn't been paying attention and half because she didn't think she'd had him glaring at her before. It was actually fairly menacing when combined with the faint growl humming in his subvocals. A sharp reminder that turians were, at their core, predators. She also had realized that she was pushing and that he was right. There was no right answer to that question. It didn't stop that thread of annoyance at him for dodging around the question, for being here, for apparently knowing more what had been happening with her daughter than she did, and for everyone seeming to be urging her to just be grateful to him for _being _there. She wasn't even really sure why it was annoying her, but it was.

"Pretty words. Almost like something straight out of a romance vid. But words are cheap Vakarian. How do I know you can live up to them?"

He half jerked to his feet, voice practically rumbling at her. "You're asking _that? _I think I've damn well proved that already. I'm the one that was standing with her when she was stuck with Cerberus since your Alliance and half the galaxy wasn't ready to get up off their asses and admit that something was wrong. The only reason I ever left was because I knew damn well the Alliance wouldn't let me near her if I was there. They weren't even willing to let me testify for her!" He sat back a little, that growl still underlying his vocals when he spoke. "She mentioned you contacted her when we went after the Collectors, but I didn't see you there when they dragged her in for doing the right thing."

She stiffened, rising her own glare to meet his. "I'm the captain of a ship, I have a responsibility to my crew. Unlike you, I couldn't just abandon my duties to rush to her side. I wasn't even informed she had turned herself in until the Alliance had her in custody." She remembered that message well. That was one of the few times she had broken with protocol and turned her ship back towards Earth. None of her crew had even tried to refuse her. "I came here as soon as I could. The Alliance didn't want _me _here either. I barely got any chance to speak with her at all. You do _not _get to say that I didn't care."

"Then don't accuse me of the same thing," Vakairan's hands were gripping the edge of the bed, fingers digging into the sheets. "Shepard and I are together. That's not changing any time soon."

"That's what you say" she said tightly. "But like I said, words are cheap and these are your words. Since Lil has developed an aversion to talking with her mother about the most important things in her life, I believe you can understand why I'm a little skeptical"

Vakarian snarled something under his breath that her translator didn't catch, but he was also looking at her...oddly almost, head cocked the side. "Can't you trust..."

A sudden beep from the machine made them both jump and her gaze snapped over to Lil's. She froze, waiting, watching. Had her eyelids twitched a little? She wasn't sure how many long past before her mind came to the sad conclusion, that no, Lil hadn't decided to return to them just yet. A breath she hadn't been aware she was holding left her lips as she left tense muscles relax.

Only then did she realize she was half out of her chair and didn't even remember standing. Something sour twisted in her gut. Had she really lost such control of her emotions that she hadn't even realized that? She had been arguing with her daughter's boyfriend at her _sickbed_. And over what exactly? She wasn't even sure anymore.

She glanced over at Vakairan. He had moved up right next to Lil's head and was standing there, hovering. After a couple of seconds he looked up and their eyes meet for a moment. Both of them looked away. The former tension that had been in the room was shattered and gone, instead replaced by something akin to embarrassment from both of them.

After a couple of false tries, of him opening and closing his mouth as he tried to find words, Vakairan was once again the one to break the silence. "That...really didn't go well."

She had the feeling it was said as much to himself as to her, but it still brought a bark of laughter. "No, it didn't," she agreed as she slowly eased back into her chair.

"The vids said that it might go that way, but I thought I could..." that was definately more to himself with her. He hadn't really moved to sit down, but he was shifting his weight slightly from one foot to the other and twisting his talons around each others.

"Vids?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"I ah, was trying to figure out what the human protocol was for..this," he made a sort of gesture between them. She wasn't sure what to think of that little piece of information. The only sort of vids she could think of that would show this sort of situation at all were the drama vids that were so popular...unless they had started making instructional vids for this sort of situation, which she very much doubted. That she had been acting like those women in the vids though, that was a bit of a wake up call. She had never thought she was ever be that bad.

"There really isn't much protocol for something like this," she knew the dry words were only there because she really didn't want to speak. It was pride more than anything else, she knew that, so she forced herself to go on. "This time, it might have been my fault," the words hurt to say, "you were right, that question wasn't fair."

"Oh, I know I was," was Vakarian's reply. She wasn't sure if she was annoyed at the cocky attitude or the fact that he was right. "It would be like asking you to choose between the Alliance and your daughter." He paused, talons twisting around each other as he glanced at Lil for a moment, then looked back at her. "I meant what I said about staying with her. I don't want to fight you about it, but I will if I have to."

Hannah took a deep breath and bit back the first reply a statement like that brought on. Instead she glanced over at her daughter. Was it really worth picking a fight over something like this? "I doubt she would be pleased about that," she said instead. Then she looked back up at the turian. "Can I ask you another question then? A fair one this time, I promise."

"What is it?" She could blame him for how wary he sounded.

"Why are you with her?" She held up a hand to cut him off before he could say anything. "I mean, what made a turian decide to go for a human? It's not like with asari, your people don't seem to make a habit of getting into relationships with other species."

"I could say the same for humans," Vakarian pointed out. "But, ah, I'll admit it's a bit unusual. I wasn't sure it would work at first, but what's between us? It's not about human or turian. It's about me and Lil. We work, that's all that's ever mattered to us. I personally don't care what the hell anyone else says about it as long as that one fact is true." The look he was giving her almost seemed to dare her to say anything about it.

"So you love her?" she asked instead.

"Isn't that what I've been saying?" Vakarian's mandibles twitched. She just raised an eyebrow at him and leaned back in her chair. "Is this another one of those human things? All of you to insist on having everything said out loud." He fell silent after that, although he was fidgeting and twisting his claws around each other again.

"I thought this would be the easiest question I could ask you."

Vakarian made a clicking sound that might have meant something. "It depends on what you mean by _easy,"_he grumbled. She quirked an eyebrow at him and he sighed. "..I do. Love her I mean." He actually started to pace a little after he spoke.

The words almost seemed to take a visible effort him for him get out. The weight they bore was reassuring. She didn't say anything for a moment, waiting for him to stop pacing. When he didn't show any sign of that she shook her head.

"I can't pretend this isn't a surprise," she glanced over at Lil again. "But I suppose I shouldn't really be that shocked she decided to go with an alien." Vakarian stopped pacing and sort of cocked his head at her. "My daughter has never liked taking the easy route in..anything."

"So she's always been insane?" Vakarian flicked his mandible into a turian grin. "And here I was worrying that the whole saving the galaxy thing got to her head. Good to know."

"Oh, I think the hero thing did make it worse," Hannah couldn't help but feel a little pride at that. Her daughter, a hero. Even know she couldn't help it. "But she was always pulling stunts when she was growing up."

"...Any ones worth hearing about?" Vakarian asked casually, finally taking a seat again. Thank god. Watching him fidget like that had been making her exhausted.

"Maybe," she said slowly, something occurring to her. Maybe this was a chance to get an answer she had been asking half the galaxy for, "but one thing first." She leaned forward slightly. "How long have you known my daughter exactly? I don't mean how long were you together, you've told me that already, but how long you've been friends."

"Uh, since the first Normandy I guess?" he flared his mandibles slightly. "What's this about?"

"Trying to figure out if you were close enough that you know what she was doing for two years," she said softly meeting his questioning gaze. He jerked straightening up and mandibles open wide.

"What?"

She leaned her elbows on the edge of her daughter's bed. "I'm not a fool, Vakarian. Someone, somewhere, decided that the best way to get to Cerberus was to have Lil fake her death. A sham so well done that it fooled even her own mother. I assume it had something to do with the Spectres since the Alliance was as shocked about her return as I was, and anyone I ask can't give me an answer about what she was actually doing."

"She hadn't told you about any of that?" Vakarian sounded shocked. "I..that's something you should ask her. I'm not even sure why you're asking me. It's not my place to.."

"I tried to ask her about it, during the bit of time the Alliance gave me with her after she turned herself in. She didn't just try to dodge around the question, she outright ignored it. The only time I have seen her do that is when there's something she's afraid of me finding out. She would have just told me if it was a classified operation that she couldn't speak about." Hannah kept her voice even, eyes never leaving the turian. "I saw the files on most of her crew, you know. It was just for my own curiosity, but I couldn't help noticing that there's a two-year gap in your records. One that seems to match up rather closely with the time my daughter was gone. I find it hard to believe that was a coincidence."

Vakarian glanced at her, shifting in his seat. She hoped he wasn't going to start pacing again. "That...hmmm," he was twisting his talons around each other again and she was amazed he hadn't pulled anything yet. "It wasn't exactly. A coincidence, I mean. I left because of that, but it wasn't about a mission or anything. I wasn't with her. _Spirits, _I wish things had been that way." The last part was said in more of a whisper than anything else.

"But you do know something about it."

"I..." Vakarian sighed and finally looked at her. "I do, but you should be asking Lil about it, not me. Get her to tell you about it. I don't feel right explaining something that should be her story."

"No, I don't think..." she swallowed a little, remembering hte last time she had meet her daughter. It had been during Lil's incarceration, and the Alliance brass hadn't _wanted _her to see her own daughter. Apparently they had decided that she would somehow find a way for Lil to escape. Idiots. She knew it was keeping her daughter safe from the batarians. She wasn't that much of a fool.  
That didn't stop her from pushing her request through. She was a good soldier, and followed orders...most of the time. They had forgotten what she was capable of when she wanted something. When Lieutenant Vega had first let her into her daughter's gilded cell-room, Lil had been standing by a window. The first whisper of _"Mom?" _as she turned around had nearly made her break down. It had been the first time she'd heard her daughters voice in over two years.  
It was after that things had gotten strange. They had talked, but it had been...strained. Lil had avoided half her questions and kept acting like she wanted to get away.

"Admiral?" The word snapped her back to reality. Vakarian has his head tilted as he looked at her. "Are you..?"

"I'm fine," she said shortly. She closed her eyes for a moment, stealing herself. "I don't think she's ever going to tell me. Whatever happened to her seems to have made her almost...afraid of me. I know her. I'm not sure why she was acting like I was going to take her head off, but it has to be something to do with that Cerberus mission of hers." Garrus had his mandibles clenched tightly to his face and kept looking away from her. "I mourned her for two years. I think I deserve to know that much at least."

The turian hesitated for a long moment then sighed and clasped his hands together. "You weren't the only one morning her," he said quietly, the flanging of his voice growing much more distinct for a few seconds. "She.." he paused as if searching for a word, "she was dead. It wasn't a ruse or a mission. She was _gone._" his voice had grown heavier now. "Cerberus brought her back. Don't ask me how, I don't know and I really don't care. They wanted her to take on the Collectors, and that's why she was with them."

She stared at him in disbelief. At first she wasn't sure she had heard right, but then he just looked away, and reached over to cover Lil's hand again. She nearly shouted at him to no touch her. "If you didn't want to answer me, you couldn't have just said so. Don't try to confuse me with stupid, impossible _stories._" The last word was all but hissed out. How _dare _he think she would buy something like that?

"It's not a story," he looked over at her, "it's the truth. If you don't believe me, ask Miranda. You ever wonder why someone like her was called in? She was the one that brought her back the first time. She won't be happy about it, but she'll tell you the truth. Probably."  
Lawson. She remembered some of the questions that the woman had managed to deflect or dodge around. Still, what he was suggesting…how could she believe that? She had never even heard about something like that being in the realm of reality.

"That's impossible," she whispered. "How could anyone even..." she trailed off, not sure what to say to the rest of it. Resurrecting the dead sounded like something from myth and legend, not something that belonged in the technology of the present.

"Like I said, I try not to think too hard about the how," Vakarian looked up at her. "It doesn't really matter either way, does it? I mean, she's back, she's here with us. I try to focus on that. I still don't like Cerberus, but I have to give them credit for giving her back to m...to us." He nearly stammered over the last bit. She barely noticed, instead just turning to study Lil for what felt like the first time.

"That's what she didn't want me to know?"

"I guess, yeah. 'Hi mom, I died but I got better!' would probably be awkward to bring up," he glanced over at her.

"Are we sure it's really her? They didn't just..clone her or something?" she reached out gently, to brush a few strands of hair from her face. She wasn't sure which possibility frightened her more.

"Oh, it's her," Vakarian said without hesitation, "I know it. Cerberus, and the Illusive Man, made a big deal about how they didn't want a knock off, they wanted the original alive and breathing." He flared his mandibles at her in a grin. "Besides, I could tell. Not even a clone could have her particular brand of insanity."

"So they did bring her back," she leaned back in her chair, studying her daughter for any signs of what she had been through. There were faint scars on her face, but she had thought it was from some old battle, not signs of a resurrection. "That's a lot to digest," she managed to get out. She wasn't sure she beloved it, or if she even wanted to. How did you deal with that sort of information?

"That I understand," Vakarian said softly. "I would probably have been more weirded out about it myself if it hadn't been for little things like Collectors breathing down our necks and her pulling my ass out of the fire. I was too busy being glad to wonder about the _how._"

"Even if I knew the how, I probably wouldn't get the science anyway," she said slowly, after a moment. "Just give me time to think about it and I'll probably end up not caring either." That wasn't quiet right, she could tell that even know. Trying to think about the whole truth of what had happened to her daughter, that she had died and been brought back to them, was something so big she didn't think she could ever fully understand it. Better to just do what Vakarian had done and be grateful that she was back with them. Or, well, would be once she woke up.

Vakarian flicked another of those turian grins at her before turning back to her daughter. It hadn't escaped her how gentle he was whenever he touched her or that his concern seemed genuine. When the Alliance had questioned her about Lil's involvement with Cerberus she had once said that she trusted her daughter's judgment. Maybe she should stop doing little more than lip-service to the words.

"I..." she stoped, then forced herself to continue. This was more important than her own damn pride. Vakarian looked at her curiously. "I don't deal well with being sidelined because of an injury. I hate being treated like I'm going to break. It leaves me in a bad mood. That's...not really an excuse just a personal demon of mine. One I should know better than to let out." There was a humm from Vakarian. Confusion? She really couldn't tell. "I didn't really want this to end in a fight. You're...not that bad. I can see why people seem to support you."

That brought out a pleased hum. "I wouldn't really want us to fight either," the turian said. "Lil deserves better than that."

"She does," Hannah agreeded and smile softly. "Besides, I learned a long time ago that it's not a good idea to get between her and something she really wants."

That got a bark of laughter from Vakarian. "Yeah, sounds like her." He hesitated and cleared his throat. "And uh..that kind of means a lot to me too." She allowed a small smile.

"You do realize that no matter what chance I gave you, if you make her cry then I make you cry?"

He outright laughed at that. "Heh, turians really can't cry you know. But I get the sentiment, and believe me, I don't intend to do anything that will do that too her."

"I do believe that," she said outloud. She still wasn't entirely sure about this situation, but she usually trusted her daughter's judgment. She would give the turian a chance, for now.

Besides, she was starting to see what Lil must have in Garrus.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Here's the new chapter, sorry it took so long. Emotional reunions are kind of a challenge for me to write. This is also the longest chapter so far, coming it at 2000 more words than the previous one. A bit more setting up here, before I start throwing everything together. Anyway, enjoy.

Big thanks to my beta oinkythepiggy for help with this.

o.o.o.

Everything was murky, fuzzy. A single thought took a massive effort to form. She felt heavy too, like she was made of stone. Maybe moving wasn't a good idea.

Somewhere, somehow, Shepard knew this should be a bad sign. She should be worrying. She just couldn't remember why. There were other things she was supposed to be remembering. Important things. Very, very important things. It was just hard to recall why they were so very important.

Besides, it was dark. That wasn't good either.

Eventually some part of her remembered opening her eyes might help with that dark thing. After some thought, she decided it was worth a try. It proved to be harder than she remembered it being. It felt like her eyelids were made of lead, and didn't want to move very much. Still, for some reason she knew this was important. Slowly, bit by bit, she forced her lids to raise.

She winced at the first crack of light that leaked. She hadn't remembered anything being that bright. After a few seconds, however, her sight adjusted to the outside world and she forced her eyes open the rest of the way.

The first thing she saw was a ceiling. A rather cracked and worn ceiling, but still a ceiling. Somehow that seemed off. She hadn't been somewhere with a ceiling, had she? She frowned, something important nudging at the edge of her mind.

She remembered space. No, not space exactly…a spaceship. _Crucible. _

Yeah, that was it, the Crucible. Or had it been the Citadel? Somewhere. Big windows. Battles going on outside. Then…then…she frowned harder when she realized she couldn't remember much after that. Something about an AI and frustration and lots of red. It slipped away when she thought too much about it.

But okay, she had been somewhere else. That much was obvious. Where was she now, then? She turned her head slightly to try and get her bearings. This was a small, mostly bare, room. Nothing much beside the bed, and a couple of chairs. There were a few machines around the bed though. The sort of things she would expect to find in a hospital. Was she in a hospital? There was that sort of disinfectant smell hospitals had about them. She knew she'd been hurt. She still did hurt, although it felt distant. _Painkillers_, some part of her mind said. It would make sense. Even before she had stepped into the beam she had been…

_The beam. Citadel. The Illusive Man. Anderson. __**Reapers. **_ The thought trigger a flood of memories and reality crashed back into her head. She was _alive _somehow, and she had no right to be. She still wasn't sure what had happened, though, and the end of the battle was muddled. There was a point where her memories just refused to form. Bits and pieces of events that didn't make sense formed, then melted away before she could figure out what the whole picture was. She just knew that she hadn't been…wherever this was. Something must have happened. Something _big. _ She had to figure out what that was. They might still need her.

Immediately she tried to jerk upright, but it was like someone had taken out all her bones and replaced them with lead. After some struggle she managed to get enough energy to raise her arm. One of the machines around her started to beep angrily at her in protest. Shepard glared at it, wondered why if all machines were designed to annoy her, then turned her attention back to getting out of bed. She had no idea what had happened after…whatever she had done in the Citadel. The Crucible must have done _something _if she was here. Whether it had actually helped or not was up in the air right now. She had to find someone, get some answers for all of this.

The door to the room flew open almost as if in answer to her vague thoughts. On the other side was one of the last people she had expected to see.

"Miranda?" Shepard croaked. Her voice sounded a lot rustier than she remembered it being. It was hard to force the words out.

Still, that little sound was enough to get the attention of the other woman. "Shepard?" Miranda said, her voice softer than usual and her eyes wide. Then she moved, faster than Shepard remembered her being, and she was by the bedside. "You remember my name?" she said as she checked the display on one of the machines.

Shepard stared at her in confusion, and wondered if she had hit her head harder than she had thought. Why was Miranda asking that? "Uh, yeah. Kind of hard to forget it." her throat still felt dry, and scratchy. Like she hadn't spoken in a while.

"That's good," Miranda visibly relaxed. "Do you remember your name?"

"Yes," Now Shepard was fairly certain she wasn't the one who had been hit on the head. And this really wasn't telling her _where _she was. At least it felt like it was getting easier to talk. "Yes, Miranda, I know my own name. What I don't know is where the hell I am and how I got here!" She attempted to sit up again, but her muscles were still doing their limp noodle impression.

"I'll tell you if you stop that!" Miranda placed a hand on her shoulder. "You've been unconscious for a little over a month Shepard. I'm _trying _to determine if you're still mentally sound." The other woman shook her head as she reached down and tapped something that made the head of the bed raise up a little more. "Although with you I'm not sure 'mentally sound' was ever an accurate description.

Shepard barely noticed Miranda's last quip. "Over a month? I've been _laying _here for over a month?" She tried to force herself up again, and managed to get into something like a sitting position. Unfortunately her legs had decided they didn't want to go along with her plan of getting out of bed. Miranda moved to make her stay still, and Shepard glared at her. "Why the hell did you let me sleep so long? What happened out there, after the Crucible? What about the war? The Reapers? Where is…"

"The Reapers are gone," the new voice came from the door way. Both women looked up as Dr. Chakaws stepped though. She was smiling, relief radiating from her. "Shepard, it's good to see you again."

"Chakwas?" Shepard stared at the doctor for a few moments of incomprehension before her brain could even try to make sense of this. "You're here too? But the Normandy.."

"The Normandy is fine," Chakwas moved over to join them. "And before you can ask, yes, Garrus and Tali made it out all right despite their injuries."

"They are? You're sure about that?" Shepard said slowly as her jumbled memories of what had happened during that frantic dash toward the beam. "And the Reapers are…gone?" She let herself sink back down to the bed as her mind tried to process that.

"I treated both of them myself," the Normandy's doctor said patiently. "and yes, the Reapers are gone. Dead would probably be more accurate, but either way, they aren't here to bother us anymore." She stepped closer, and Shepard finally noticed the unsteady smile on her face. "It's _good _to see you up again Shepard. You've been out so long you were even starting to worry _me_" She reached down and laid a hand on her shoulder. It weirded out Shepard a little to know that she was the cause of Chakwas being this openly emotional.

"Sorry about that?" Shepard said uncertainly. "It's good to see you too. Nice waking up to familiar faces instead of just another scientist. I've kind of gotten tired of that."

"I would have been here sooner, but I only just got the news." Chakwas turned a glare on Miranda.

"I sent you a message as soon as I became aware of it myself," the former Cerbus agent shot back. "It's not like I could control how far away you were." She had her omintool out and was checking the readings on one of the machines, but paused, a small smile on her face. "I will have to add that Dr. Chakwas was not the only one worried. You have a great many people waiting for you."

Shepard was sure she knew of at least one person that would fit the description. Actually, now that her thoughts were a little clearer, she was wondering where he was. She must have said his name without meaning too because Chakwas chuckled. "Garrus is over at the turian command center. When he's not by your side, he's been working himself to the bone to distract himself. I'm sure he'll be here as soon as he can."

"Sooner, if he can manage it I imagine," Miranda commented. "I did send him a message myself. I wouldn't want to see his reaction if I hadn't."

That was enough to bring a faint mile to Shepard's face, and she felt a little lighter. Time to focus on more important things. "That's nice. Really. But could someone please tell mewhere the _hell _I am and how I got here?"

Both doctors looked at it each other. "You're in a hospital," Chakwas said after a moment. "It's one of the few left standing, and naturally it was considered the only place to bring the galaxy's hero. Although they are keeping it quiet for now. Not many even know you're here."

"Before you ask," Miranda chimed in, "Dr. Tsoni and Lieutenant Vega found you at the beam site. You were…very badly wounded when they brought you. We weren't even sure you were going to survive. Of course, they underestimated how immeasurably stubborn you are."

"The beam…site?" she struggled to recall where the hell that was. "How did I get there?"

"No one knows," Chakwas said briskly. "Granted, the scientists all have numerous pet theories on the subject, but no one was willing to commit to anything until you were awake to confirm any of them."

Shepard couldn't imagine how anyone could think she would be able to answer any of their questions. Now when she could barely remember anything herself. Then again politicians were idiots and probably wouldn't even believe that. Miranda was saying something about exhaustion being a natural reaction to something, but she wasn't paying attention. It was getting harder to focus on thinking again. She was tempted to just closer her, eyes for a couple of seconds, just to rest them…at the last second she realized what was happening and forced herself awake. She had already slept enough; she was not going to waste anymore time!

Still, she could feel exhaustion dragging at her and she cast her mind out trying to find something to keep herself awake. Then, suddenly she realized if she had been found where the beam had picked her up from, maybe there was a chance she hadn't been the only one to come back.

"Anderson," she said out loud, "if they found me, they must have found him too, right?."

The silence from both the other people in the room was answer enough even before Chakwas said softly, "I'm sorry Shepard. He didn't make it."

Shepard had tried not to hold onto too much hope, but it still felt like a blow. There had been a part of her searching for some way he would make it out alive. "Damn it!" Something wet trickled down the side of her face. Quickly she closed her eyes, hoping no one had seen the tears. If either Miranda or Chackwas had, they didn't mention it.

"He died a hero, Shepard," Miranda said. "His sacrifice is already being honored."

"Still, he didn't deserve to die up there," Shepard said, and opened her eyes to stare up at the ceiling again. It took more effort than she thought it should and she could feel the exhaustion creeping up on here again.

"No one deserved to die out there," Chakwas said firmly, "and I doubt he would be very pleased with you moping about after his death. He would probably insist you concentrate on recovering and getting back on your feet. You are a hero, Shepard."

"He probably would," Shepard had to admit, "and I don't feel like a hero at the moment."

"That's because you need rest," Dr. Chakwas' voice sounded far away. Shepard snorted slightly, but allowed her eyes to drift close. She was only going to rest for a second. That was it, all she was going to allow herself. She swore it.

Her intent, however, seemed to matter little to her body. She felt herself slipping back into sleep, and this time didn't have the strength to fight it.

Shepard wasn't sure how much time had passed when she opened her eyes again. There were no windows, and no one had decided to leave a clock where she could see it. Not that it really mattered anyway, but it would be nice to know how much more time she had wasted. Long enough that Miranda and Chakwas had left, at least. She wasn't alone though, not anymore. Garrus was in a chair by her bedside, one hand resting on hers. He looked tired, and hadn't seemed to notice she was awake.

Even though Dr. Chakwas had told her he was all right, seeing him again brought on a rush of relief and other emotions. He really _was _all right, even his head kept falling forward like he was going to doze off at any moment. That he was pushing himself that hard, just for her, was both touching and slightly exasperating. Maybe she should have felt more annoyed with him, but seeing him just felt far too good for her to sustain it. There was that sense of peace that he always brought with him, even in the middle of the war. As she watched his head nod forward again, she wondered if it was possible for turians to outright fall asleep while standing.

"That can't be comfortable," she croaked out loud. Despite how bad she must have sounded the words made Garrus jerk upright all at one, all trace of drowsiness in his eyes gone.

"Shepard?" he said, a sharp keen creeping into his subvocals as he pinned her with an intense gaze. It felt like he was studying every inch of her, and if she had more energy it would have made her shiver. She loved it when he looked at her like that.

This time all she could do was smile. "Yeah," she turned her hand over to grip his. "Hey."

He made a strangled sound, then the next thing she knew he was pressing his forehead against her, stroking the side of her face with his free hand. "You're awake," his voice shook "You're _awake! Spirits. _You...you...stupid, reckless, idiotic, heroic..._human_. Do you know how much of a hassle you are? Blowing everything, including yourself, up, and then deciding to just sleep for days on end and let everyone else do all the work." She could hear the desperation in his shaking words and felt a rush of guilt.

"Sorry 'bout that," she muttered, returning the pressure against her forehead as best she could. "Wasn't planning on blowing myself up but, just, you know, Reapers. Always have to make things more complicated, even after they're dead."

"I think you have them beat out when it comes to _complicating _things," Garrus grumbled and slowly eased back. "Really Shepard, you don't have to turn everything into a competition."

"But that's the fun part," she had to clear her throat before she could get the words out but tried to grin about it. She couldn't put any energy into it though, and Garrus reached over to smooth a hand through her hair.

"In all seriousness, you did have me worried Shepard," he said, his voice still not totally steady. "There were so many reports coming in, all of them conflicting, and then someone told me that you'd been confirmed dead..." his voice started to keen again. Shepard squeezed his hand again.

"Come on, you should know me better than that," she said lightly. "Even I'm capable of following orders when I want too. Had some pretty convincing ones telling me to come back." His words still echoed crystal clear in her mind. She remembered that much, even though the rest of her memories of what exactly had happened after she had activated the Crucible were refusing to cooperate with her.

Garrus flared his mandibles slightly. "I suppose I am pretty convincing. But, I also _do_know you Shepard. That's what had me worried. If I had lost you.." his voice trailed off into nothing.

"Hey, I'm here," she said and tried to sit up slightly and reach out for him. Her body, however, decided to inform her that she was still weak and that was a Bad Idea. Weakness dragged her back down, and the pain of injuries that were little more than half-healed made her hiss.

Garrus was there immediately, peering at her in horror. "Don't do that! Can't you stay still for more than two seconds?"

"Not really," Shepard grunted as she tried to get herself back into a comfortable position. "Although it looks like I'm not gong to have much of a choice right now. Ow, dammit."

Garrus actually chuckled, a little shakily. "I know you like being difficult, but now might be a good idea to listen to the nice doctors." He helped her get settled, but didn't pull back all the way. He stayed close, as if he half expected her to try this again. She really couldn't bring herself to tell him to move away.

"I suppose I can," she admitted begrudgingly. "But only until I'm a bit better. I'm not staying here a moment longer than I have to. Soon as I can stand I'm heading straight back towards the Normandy. I can recover better there than in a hospital." Garrus hadn't said anything. He was just staring at her and gripping her hand tightly.  
"What?"

"I missed you Shepard," he said quietly, not taking his eyes off her. "I just...it was lonely out there with out you." There was so much emotion in those words, and in his eyes, that it was hard to meet them. Shepard was still having trouble wrapping her head around how long she had been out, but suddenly she was wondering what it must have been like for someone on the outside. The waiting..She wasn't sure she would have been able to deal with something like that. If this had happened to Garrus, if she hadn't even known if he would wake up…. that was something she didn't want to think about.

She tried to swallow around the lump in her throat. Even though her arms still felt like lead she still managed to raise a hand far up enough to stroke his unscarred mandible. "Well I'm back," she told him softly. "So quit worrying about it, okay?"

That got a snort of him as he leaned into her touch. "Hard not to worry when I have a girlfriend who seems to make a habit out of forgetting about little things like personal safety."

"Like you're any bett.." a coughing fit interrupted her. Garrus gave a shocked growl.

"What's wrong? Should I call for someone? I can get.."

"It's fine," she managed to get out. "My throat's just really dry. Is there water or something around here?"

"Ah yeah, Miranda left it, hold on..." Garrus stood, and disappeared passed the head of her bed. There were sounds of him moving something around, then he reappeared with a small paper cup in his hand. "Here, let me." He slid an arm under her shoulders and lifted her a bit, but when he tried to raise the cups to her lips, Shepard pulled away.

"I can drink for myself," she said dryly. She couldn't remember a time when she was conscious and she couldn't at least eat or drink by herself. It took effort, sure, but she was not helpless child. She could do this. She was _going _to do this.

"Are you sure?" Garrus flared his mandibles in distress. "You really don't look good Shepard."

"I'm sure," she said as she inched her hands slowly up. She managed to get a hold of the cup, which was bigger than she thought it was, and brought it up to her mouth. Garrus kept her propped up and watched anxiously as she sipped carefully. She wasn't shaking exactly but it was work to keep her hands steady, and she was not going to embarrass herself by splashing it all over after making such an effort to argue about it.

Even those few sips made her feel much better. Suddenly things didn't seem as hard "See? Told you," she said as Garrus took the cup away. He snorted and she used him turning away for a second to hide how quickly she dropped her hands back onto her lap. Yeah, she felt better but apparently that wasn't enough. _Still have a ways to go yet, _she thought as she glared at her hands. She just hoped that the weakness was only temporary. The mere thought of it being more permanent, of never being able to be a soldier again, made her shake slightly. The Alliance had been her whole life since she had joined it. What would she do if she had to give that up?

She had almost forgotten Garrus was it he room with her until a three-fingered hand wound around one of her own. Shepard jerked her head up automatically and met a pair of worried blue eyes.

"You know," the turian said slowly. "I kept talking to Dr. Chakwas when she showed up. You know, about how you were doing, when you were going to wake up...stuff a worried boyfriend usually asks doctors about. One thing she mentioned to me was that you were healing faster than any decent human being had a right to be."

"So I'm not decent now?" she chuckled and squeezed his hand gently.

He flared a turian grin at her. "You really want me to answer that, Shepard?" He shook his head, "The point is, whatever enhancements Cerberus stuck in you seemed to be doing a pretty good job of making sure your body was fine. Chakwas just seemed a tiiiny bit concerned that you might be a bit, hmmm, drained for a while. Humans aren't krogan after all, so this time you aren't going to be able to dance away without _some _sort of consequences."

"Wait," Shepard said slowly as she started to process what he had just told her. This was what Miranda had been babbly about earlier, wasn't it? "All.._this_ is just a _side effect?_" A shuddering sense of relief swept through her. She tried to keep it out her voice. Covering it with annoyance was good. "So how long am I going to be stuck with it?"

"You know, most people like to take a _break _after they get back from saving the galaxy. I think you of all people have earned that," Garrus drawled. "But if you're really that intent on jumping straight back into the fray, then you're going to have to ask Dr. Chakwas. Or Miranda. They can tell you when you can expect to be back on your feet. Just _try _not to kill anyone when they don't clear you immediately."

Even though Garrus was keeping his tone light, there was worry and sympathy in his eyes. Her cheeks flushed. She didn't need sympathy, and she hadn't meant to worry him. How had he even known what to say anyway? He was always a little too good at figuring out what she was feeling, damn turian. Then again, he had been a cop, and he knew her. Knew her very well, when it came down to it. Honestly, it kind of felt good, not having to explain why the thought of being so helpless made her shake. He probably understood the feeling.

She felt the annoyance she had at him slipping away. It should have been scary, being with someone that knew her that well. Earlier in her life she certainly would have tempted to run away from it. Now, after everything she had been through with him, it just felt comforting knowing that she didn't have to stumble through words about a fear like that. He wouldn't make fun of her about it either. Just accept it as part of her.

"I'll keep my temper in check," she said and smiled at him. "Or at least I'll try. Even I know it's bad manners to growl at the people who put you back together."

"As if you humans _could _growl, even if you wanted to," Garrus leaned forward to brush a lock of hair out of her face. "Granted, you _almost _manage it but nothing any self respecting turian would call a_ growl._"

For a few moments just enjoyed having him this close. This close though, she couldn't help noticing changes that she hadn't before, when she had been a bit distracted. There were new pot-marks and pitting on the unscarred side of his face, and even the skin of his neck had a few still healing cuts.

"I guess you've had some experience with growling at doctors," she said quietly. "Fairly recently, I guess." He pulled away and looked at her in confusion. "You could barely walk the last time I saw you, Garrus. It's nice to see you on your feet."

His mandibles dropped in confusion and he stared at her for a few seconds. "You have no idea how many things I want to say to that. My girlfriend runs straight into an alien deathbeam and she's worried about_ me._. I'm beginning to think you really did knock something lose in your head."

"Humor me?" She asked. "You can't really blame me for being a little worried after...everything else." Her throat closed and she tried very, very hard not to think about what happened up there in the Citadel. Anderson was something she wasn't sure she was ready to deal with. She wasn't sure she would ever be. Something must have show in her eyes because Garrus moved forward and pressed his forehead against hers.

"Of course, Shepard," he rumbled soothingly before pulling away just a little. "But look, I'm fine. You really think Chakwas would let me be up and walking around if I wasn't?"

He wasn't lying. She could read him enough to know that, and it made her relax some. "I think you could find some way around her orders if you wanted to. I'm pretty sure I remember you doing it before."

"Yeah, but," he flared his mandibles in distress, "Shepard.._Lil_, I.."

"I know," she said quickly. "I believe you this time, really."

"Good," he rumbled. "Because I actually feel a lot better than I did this morning. Have a weight off my mind now."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Shepard couldn't help nodding towards the cut on his neck. "Just noticed you had a few more scars."

"So do you," he observed, running his thumb over a spot on her hand. Considering how bad she remembered the wounds she _remembered _were, she could imagine that. There were probably a dozen other injuries that she had forgotten about that had made things worse.

"Probably," she agreed. "Guess we'll just have to show them off to each other later." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. That actually seemed to hurt a little and she resolved not to do it again. At least it startled a laugh out of her boyfriend.

"Are you really that insatiable,?" he said as he straightened all the way. "No wait, I'm not sure I want you answer that. I do think I'll get frowned at a little for taking advantage of you before you were back to your old self."

That got a laugh out of her. It jolted something in her chest that told her how sore she really was underneath the painkillers, but it felt good to laugh again. "I think we could debate over who was taking advantage of who in that situation," she squeezed his hand, "but I'll be good for once. Tell me what happened with Normandy instead. Chakwas said it was fine, but more detailed reports are always appreciated."

"She got a bit banged up, but nothing that can't be fixed," Garrus flared his mandibles in a grin. "And before you ask, yeah, everyone is fine. Just kindly remember to send us a warning the next time you decide to fire a doomsday weapon."

"So that's what you would call the Crucible? A doomsday weapon?" Shepard felt a tiny thrill of alarm at that. She didn't actually remember what the crucible had _done _only that something had happened. She had no idea how destructive it was. If Garrus was calling it a doomsday weapon..

"I think that Reapers would have called it one," he was grinning. "You set it off, boom, flash of light, and then suddenly all of them stopped moving. Whatever you did got the ground forces too."

"Good," she said letting herself relax. She had fallen asleep before Chakwas could giver her any details, and it was nice hear it. "But that's it? Just a flash of light?"

"Well, light, and a lot of energy. Didn't do much though, knocked a few ships, caused problems with some of their equipment, and did little things like short out the mass relays. That's all."

"What?" she tried to jerk upright before Garrus gave a worried keen and stood. She kept her eyes on him as she settled her shaky body back down. "I shorted out the mass relays?" They would be cut off from the rest of the galaxy without the mass relays. Everyone would be stranded, and if they couldn't get them operational again then there were some who might never see their homes again.

"Calm down," Garrus said firmly. "_You_didn't do anything. It was the Crucible, and you know that most of the people here right now would willingly have traded the relays for the death of the reapers."

"Still a big sacrifice to make," she muttered, subsidiing a little.

Garrus snorted. "It's not like they were destroyed," he pointed out, "teams have been out working on them since they moment they could get out there. There's no physical damage, just overtaxed. The quarians and the geth both say they'll be able to get them working again fairly soon."

"The qurians and the...geth?" Somehow that made her feel better. There was something mixed in with the muddled memories of the crucible that said she should be relived and happier about this.

"Yep," Garrus was saying. "Good job you made peace between them. Otherwise we would be waiting a hell of a lot longer. It's pretty impressive what they can do together after someone knocked sense into them."

"You're sure about that?" She couldn't keep the anxiousness out of her voice and Garrus sighed.

"Yes, Shepard, I am sure. As sure as I can be without going out there myself, which, you know, is something I really have no desire to do."

"I don't really want you to leave either," she said softly. "And okay, I believe you," She tried to smile and change the subject, "so I take it the Normandy was one of the ships that got tossed around a little?"

"Umm...not exactly."

The flanging on his voice had gotten wider and he looked away. Her eyes narrowed. "Garrus?"

"We did get knocked about a bit, yeah, but EDI going off line was kind of a bigger problem."

"What!?" Shepard yelped, but this time before she could try to move Garrus had his hands on her shoulders.

"Would you stop that?" his mandible were splayed in distress again. "You hurt yourself again and Chackwas is going to get mad at _me. _Then ban me from being here. Not something either of us wants._" _

"You told me EDI went offline and I'm supposed to be _calm _about this?"

"Went off line for a _little _bit," he said quickly. "We got her running again, so don't worry about it. No one has noticed anything different about her, even Joker, and EDI says there aren't any system anomalies." Shepard frowned at him still not convinced, and Garrus shook his head slightly. "I checked myself, Shepard. The only thing we can't account for is why that robot body of hers won't work. No matter what we do we can't get into it, but that's not _critical _or anything at the moment."  
"I can call up Joker if you want. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to tell you _all _about it," Garrus added. He didn't really look happy about the prospect and Shepard sighed.

"No, no, that's all right. I'll believe you," she sighed, "I can guess that Joker is really not happy about the situation. I don't need him talking my ear off about it right now."

"'Not happy' really doesn't cover it," Garrus agreed. "Although at the moment I think he's worried that EDI might actually take up the geth's offer to use one of their platforms."

"Please tell me I didn't hear you correctly. The geth wanted EDI to join them?" she just stared wide-eyed at Garrus, who chuckled at her expression.

"Not join them exactly. They just thought they would be neighborly and lend her a 'mobile platform' until hers was operational again."

Shepard couldn't help laughing at the mental image that conjured up. It still hurt, but she couldn't help herself "Please tell me someone has a picture of Joker's face when that happened. I can just _picture _his expression."

"Oh, I think Tali might," Garrus chuckled. "As her the next time you see her. I'm sure she'll be _more _than happy to hook you up."

"Think she'll come by?" The prospect of seeing Tali again made her feel a little happier. Tali, Liara, Joker...it would be good to see all of them with her own eyes. Hearing about how they were doing was a pale substitute to that.

"I think it'll be harder to keep her away," Garrus said.

They talked a bit more after that, about the status of the Normandy, how the crew was holding up, but gradually it became more about her listening and Garrus speaking. She had always loved his voice. Aside from downright sexy, it was soothing to listen to sometimes. She didn't even mind listen to him jabber about things in the Thanix she only half-understood because of it. It was relaxing, comforting...

She didn't realize just _how _relaxing it was to hear him again until his voice changed to something sharper. "Shepard?"

She jerked out of the half doze she was in. "Mmm?" she said tiredly as she opened her eyes and blinked at him.

He was flaring his mandibles at her anxiously as he leaned over. "You all right?"

"Mmm, fine," she said putting in a mighty effort to keep her eyes open. "Just give me a minute."

Garrus relaxed slightly and ran a hand through her hair. "Don't push yourself, Shepard," he said softly. "Rest if you want to."

Somehow she felt she should be arguing against that, but she just didn't have the energy too. "...Fine," she muttered. "But could you.." she didn't finish the sentence since it would sound so childish to voice it, but it was Garrus and he seemed to understand.

"I'll be here," he said as he took her hand again. "Always."

"Thank you," she said outloud before she closed her eyes and let herself relax into sleep once more.

O0o0o0o0o

Garrus sat watching the rise and fall of her chest. Sleeping again, but at least this time it was just regular deep sleep. She was back. She would wake up, and they could talk again. No more worrying. She was here.

He let out a shuddering breath, trying to keep it together. He had been trying to be relaxed while she was awake and not show how much he had been worried over her. She had enough to adjust to without throwing his state of mind into the mix. The moment he had got a message from Chakwas saying that she was awake and talking he had set out toward the hospital. Even after coming _this_close to hijacking a transport to get here as fast as possible, he still hadn't arrived before Shepard had fallen asleep again. He hasn't left since then. He had to see for himself that she was all right, that she was still herself.

That had been everyone's unspoken worry. The doctors had done they best they could, but even they didn't know what was going to happen when she woke up. She had taken so much damage that there was always the possibility that whoever came out of the coma wouldn't be the Shepard they had known. There was so much that could have gone wrong, and he had tried his best not to think about any of it. Joker had brought up old Earth dramas where a character had woken up with amnesia as a joke, but Garrus had to admit that the mere thought had shaken him. Shepard forgetting everything? Even him? How would you deal with that?

Thankfully he hadn't been the only one affected by that thought and Joker had very quickly pretended the conversation had never happened.

At lest they wouldn't have to worry about that anymore. "It's over now," he hadn't meant to say the words out loud. The sound of the them in the small room made him jump and reflexively slammed his mouth shut, mandibles clinging tight to his face. He might be happy that Shepard was with him again, but he was not going to jeopardize her recovery by waking her up when she should be resting.

The door opened suddenly and be held back a warning snarl at the sound, just as Tali stepped inside.

"Garrus," she said, not sounding at all surprised at finding them there. "How is she?" her gaze switched to Shepard. Her mask blocked her face but he didn't need to see it to read the lines of her body and the anxious tone in her voice.

"You just missed her," he said, forcing himself to relax and keep her voice low. "She was awake for a while, but she's still weak. Apparently Chakwas was right; those little bits of machinery in her are helpful, but draining."

Tali grumbled something that sounded like a quarian curse but it was too indistinct for his translator to catch.  
"But you talked with her? She's really all right?" Tali had her hands clenching together.

"She's fine," he said gently, "at least mentally. I think her asking about the Normandy and the crew was a good sign."

"Thank god," Tali sagged back against the wall. "Chakwas said that she was okay, but when she mentioned that Shepard didn't really remember some things that had happened and I got so _worried. _I tried to get out here as soon as I could but I kept running into problems and delays.."

"Look, Tali, don't worry about it," he said quickly. "Any memory loss she has seems to be centered around what happened right before the Crucible fired, and frankly, that might be for the best."

"That's something I'll agree on. I would rather guess about what happened with the Reapers than force _anyone_, most of all Shepard, to relive something like that."

"Then you'll have to help me keep the Alliance off her," he felt his subvocals shift down into a threatening growl as he spoke and it took effort to drag it back. He wasn't sure if that would wake Shepard or not. "They'll want answers, but I'm not letting them put that ahead of Shepard's health."  
He knew he was being at least a little stupid about this. Maybe even _very _stupid about it. It was just that over the past few years he had seen what the Alliance, what even the Council had put her thought but was helpless over it. Now the whole galaxy owed her, and he was finally in a position where he could do something to make things easier for her, even if it was just chasing away politicians and paparazzi until she could do it herself.

"You know I'll help however I can," Tali said gently, then paused for a second. "How are you holding up, Garrus?" There was an anxious note in her voice, and it was only when he heard it that he realized his hands were shaking slightly.

He took a deep breath, evoking the same discipline he did to steady himself right before a shot. "I'm fine," he said as best he could. "Really. Today's just been a little emotional is all." He hadn't realized how just hearing her voice would get to him. Talking to her, knowing she was all right...he hadn't even said half the things he wanted to her. He didn't want to drag out something that emotional when she looked as weak as she did. Besides, his words had been stolen by just being able to talk with her, joke with her as if nothing had happened.  
"I got to see her again, Tali," he admitted quietly.

Tali closed the few steps between them. "I know," she said as she laid a hand on his shoulder. "She's probably glad to be back too."

"Yeah," was the only thing he could think to say to that.

"You'll see her again soon," Tali said firmly, " and when she's awake again you have to call me. I will be most unhappy if you don't, understand?"

He relaxed slightly. "An unhappy quarian. Wouldn't want that. Don't worry, I'll call you."

He could promise that. Tali was right. Shepard would be with them again. He just hoped it would be soon.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Shepard heard Garrus' voice. It was far off, but she'd know those familiar dual-tones anywhere. He was annoyed, even without seeing him she could heard that much although she couldn't tell who he was annoyed with. _Sucks to be them, _she thought cheerfully as silence fell.

Curiosity overcame her and she slowly opened her eyes. Same hospital room, but curiously she couldn't see the turian anywhere close by.

"Lillie?" That wasn't Garrus. It was a voice that was even more familiar to her than his.

She felt something in her chest lurch. "Mom?" she whispered in disbelief as she finally focused on the woman sitting in a chair on her right side.

The older woman seemed to sag in relief herself and smiled. "Welcome back to the world, sweetheart. You've been sleeping a long time."

Lil just stared at her mother wide-eyed. "What are you doing here, Mom?"

"What, I'm _not _supposed to come visit my daughter when I find out she's been through hell and back?" her mother crossed her arms and leaned back. At least she looked amused.

"I'm not saying that," she said quickly trying to force herself to keep still and not betray how hard her heart was beating. "I just thought you would be busy. Hackett told me you got promoted to Rear Admiral. I didn't think they would let you just walk away with everything so messed up."

"I have been working to get things running again," her mother said and slowly uncrossed her arms. "That doesn't mean I'm above pulling rank and heading over to see my injured daughter. Not a lot of people seemed to really object to it either." She chuckled. "Hackett grumbled somewhat but he didn't try to stop me either. I think he knows better than to try."

Lil wasn't at all surprised by that. Anyone who knew her mother knew about that stubborn streak that ran a mile wide.. "I wonder why," she said dryly as she tried to stop herself from fidgeting. Moving still hurt and used energy she really didn't have. Silence fell between them and she didn't know what to say to fill it. Her mother seemed confused, and Lil felt bad about this. It wasn't as if anything that had happened was either of their fault, and it would make things so much easier if she could just _explain. _Except, she had no idea how you brought up the fact that you had been _dead _to your mother.

"Lillie?" her mother's voice split the silence. She leaned forward, reaching out toward her. "Are you okay? You spaced out for a second there."

Lil jerked away automatically. Even though there was barely any room to move and the sudden action hurt, her intent was obvious. The hurt look on her mother's face was worse than the physical pain. "Yeah, sorry," she said, trying to ignore it. "I was just thinking. Were you..talking with someone else before I woke up? I thought I heard a different voice." Try to keep it calm, try to keep it casual. Easier than facing emotions she didn't know how to deal with.

Her mother sighed, as if she had expected the question. "Garrus was here until a couple minutes ago," she said. "He was already here when I arrived, actually. Then someone pinged him on his omnitool, he answered, and I chased him out when they started arguing. I told him I would throw him out myself if he woke you up. Apparently I should have just done it anyway." Her mother smiled at her encouragingly and Lil tried her best to smile back.

She wasn't sure how to feel about it. If things weren't so tangled up, then she might have actually laughed, and wished she could have seen that. Instead she felt she was just waiting for something to crack, for her mother to notice something was off and _say _something about it.

"So you and Garrus have been talking?" she asked, trying to keep it casual. Distract her, maybe. Lil had to admit the thought of her mother and her boyfriend talking was almost enough to distract her personally. She had never brought up her relationships to her mother and if Garrus had let something slip...

"Yes, we have," her mother shook her head, "talking quite a bit actually. I think it was harder for him to stay quiet."  
Lil chuckled nervously. "Yeah, sounds like him. He's like that." She didn't know what to say after that. _No, _she thought quietly to herself, _more than that. _If she kept talking, she might say something that she would regret. There were so many things that she didn't want her mother to know, but so many things she wanted to tell her. She couldn't risk something more than she wanted to say slipping out.

Her mother looked concerned, and Lil could hardly blame her. The older woman seemed to hesitate for a moment, then spoken gently. "Look, Lil...I get why you're nervous about me speaking with him, but I'm not going to say anything about your relationship. You've never been one to take the easy route, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by you dating a turian."

For a few seconds, Lil thought she had been hit over the head. Although she had been slightly worried her mother could have picked up on _something _with her and Garrus in the same room for so long she hadn't thought it would be that accurate.  
"Well, that's good to know. How they hell did you even found out about it anyway?" There had been rumors about who she was sleeping with; she knew that for a fact. She just didn't think her own mother would be the sort to believe them.

It just brought on a slight smile. "Vakarian told me himself."

"I am going to kill him," Lil said conversationally and tried to sink back deeper into her pillows.

"Does saying that I don't think he meant for me to overhear that make it a bit better?"

"A little," Lil admitted, plucking distractedly at the sheets. She swallowed, and hoped that she wasn't hooked up to anything reading her heart rate at the moment. "You really don't care?"

"I was a bit shocked at first," her mother admitted, "I wasn't sure what to think. I fought _against _the turians, remember." She shifted uncomfortably. "I'll admit, maybe I wasn't the most reasonable with him at first. But he's a good man Lillie, I can see that. He also cares for you, and he's made that very obvious." There was a pause, and her mother leaned forward. Lil drew back a little as the older woman studied her face for a moment. "But that's what he feels. I have no idea if you even feel the same about him."

The last words managed to shake Lil out of the feeling of stunned disbelief that had overridden everything else. "I thought you said you weren't going to say anything about my relationship with him?" She brought her hands up to rest on her lap. "Because really, why would you even be asking that if it were true?"

"I'm not trying to judge you, Lillie. I just want to hear things from your own mouth for once. I've had a hell of a lot of people talking to me about you, but I haven't had a chance to hear your own opinion for years. You know I prefer information straight from the source. Given everything else you've been though, can you really blame me for trying to make sure you're happy?"

Lil honestly wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel about that. Yeah, it was nice knowing someone still cared. She just never liked being question, especially by the woman who had raised her. "I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions."

"And I'm your mother. I worry. It's part of the job," her mother did draw back a little. "So, are you going to answer or leave me wondering?"

For a moment Lil did contemplate not answering but then she leaned back against her pillows and decided this was one fight she didn't want. "Whatever Garrus said, I'm echoing," she said as she closed her eyes for a moment, "I don't care what it was, and I have a pretty good idea what the words were anyway. He's been everything to me lately. No matter what's happened, what I've asked him to do, he's always been right there by my side. Imagining a life without him...that's not something I think I could do." She wasn't sure those words were right, or even if they made any sense, but they were the best she could come up with.

Her mother let out a breath of air. There was a creak for the chair, and Lil opened her eyes to find the older woman leaning back, watching her. "Then I'll keep my promise not to say anything else about it. I don't really _understand _the attraction but he obviously makes you happy. After everything you've been through I think that's the least you deserve."

"Thank you," Lil couldn't think of anything else to say beyond that and it drifted again into uncomfortable silence. She kept hoping something would happen. That Garrus would come back. That she would fall asleep. Even that the Alliance brass would come storming in demanding answers. Anything to get a distraction.

There was a sigh from the chair. "All right, Lillie, what's really going on here?"

Some part of her mouth went dry. She could feel adrenalin surge and her heart was bounding. Usually she felt like this at the beginning of a battle. "What do you mean? I think it's fairly obvious what's going on here. I'm trying to recover from being nearly blown up by a reaper."

"Not about that," her mother said patiently. "What's going on between the two of us? I don't need to be a psychologist to know that something's off, and has been since you got back." Lil felt herself freeze, barely breathing. Hannah Shepard did not appear to notice, but kept talking. "You used to at least shoot me a note every week or so to tell me how you were doing. Then I mourn you for two years, and you don't even have the courtesy to tell me you were back. Anderson had to tell me."

"I said I was sorry about that," Lil said shortly. "I was kind of busy killing Collectors."

"So, that meant no time for a note even?" her mother's voice was dry, although there was worry laced underneath it. "But that's why I went to see you when the Alliance dragged you in for trial. I wanted to see if you were all right. You acted like you would rather have been anywhere but there with me."

There was nothing Lil could think to say to that. She just looked down at her hands that were gripping sheets to keep from trembling. That...she remembered that. She hadn't been thinking about her mother until the older woman had walked into the apartment she was on lock down in. Then suddenly terror had gripped her. Few things scared her, but right now her mother was one of the things that could.

"Lil," her mother was saying gently. "I thought you freaked out because you didn't want me to know you were sleeping with a turian, but you're still acting like I'm going to take your head off. What's going on?"

Lil felt her mouth go dry again. She didn't want to drive her mother away. She just didn't want to talk to her either. Honestly, she wasn't sure what she wanted. Her stomach was twisting and she was just so close to saying she was exhausted and wanted to be left alone. "Nothing. I'm fine, Mom. Just tired."

That got a snort and the older woman crossed her arms. "Please Lilliana," her mother said in a warning voice she hadn't heard since she was a teenager. "I'm a bit insulted. Have you ever been able to successfully lie to me?" Then she hesitated. "Look if it's something I did, if something happened...just tell me. I'll listen. I promise."

There so many memories that called up. She swallowed around a lump in her thought. "It's nothing to do with you," she said quietly. "Not really. It's just...one of those things that's really complicated. I'm not sure how to explain it."

"I don't want to push you when you're like this," her mother sighed. "We can wait if you want. I'm just worried about you Lillie. I know how much pressure you were under. Just...you know I trust you, right? Whatever happened with Cerberus, or out there with the Reapers, I know you did the right thing."

Even without those words, Lil would have known that. Even the note she had gotten while chasing Collectors had said as much. Hannah Shepard had never doubted what her daughter was doing. That's why doubting _her _now made Lil feel as if she were the lowest. "Cerberus is a big part of the complication, yeah," she found herself saying. She felt her breath catch. She knew she should have shut up, she hadn't meant to say that. Shit, she must have been hanging around Garrus too much .

"I figured," was the unexpected reply. "I heard a lot about them. I knew they put you through hell before the Alliance dragged you back."

"Kind of the opposite actually," she said after a pause. The words were forced past a lump in her throat. Part of her brain was screaming that this was a bad idea. She should just stop and do something else...but she had never let her fears rule her before. This was different, yeah, but she didn't see the point in avoiding it now that they were this close. She was already at the edge. Might as well take the fall so she didn't have to worry about what _could _happen anymore. It couldn't be any worse than what the reapers had thrown at her...right? She felt light headed, and she knew she was trembling slightly. At least, if this went south the way she feared it would, Garrus was still be there. She hoped.

"Yeah, I heard that too."

That reply shocked her to the core and she froze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I asked Vakarian where you were while you were gone. He actually decided to tell me the truth." Her mother reached forward to touch the back of her hand. "I can't say much good about those Cerberus bastards, but at least they brought my daughter back to me."

It felt like the bottom of her stomach had dropped out. Suddenly she felt very light. Not dizzy exactly but something odd. "He told you? So you already knew?" For some reason that was once scenario she hadn't considered. Well, she had, but all the ones she had thought of hadn't been as nonchalant as this.

"I just said that, didn't I?" her mother smiled. "I guess that would be a little complicated to explain to your mother."

"That I'm a cyborg zombie now? Yeah, a bit." Lil could feel her voice shaking. She swallowed and tried to get some control back.

"Not exactly the words I would use to describe it," her mother cocked her head slightly. "Is that what this has been about? You not wanting me to know about Cerberus?"

"Yes," Lil admitted.

"Now I'm going to admit to being more than a little confused by that," her mother abandoned the chair to sit careful on the edge of the bed. "Someone tossed me a miracle and brought my daughter back to life. Maybe I would find it hard to believe at first, but I'm not sure why you would be scared of me."

"Because Cerberus didn't just bring me back to life Mom, they rebuilt me. Put me back together, and I wasn't sure how much of it was really me anymore. They might have told me I wasn't a clone, or that it would have been _easier _to make clone, but it was Cerberus. I wasn't sure I trusted that for a long, long, time. Sometimes I'm still not sure if I trust it." She tried not to look at her mother. Tried to keep from show exhausting this was. It would have been better for her to wait until she was feeling better, maybe. At least this way it could be over and she could _actually _rest, not worry about what she was going to do later on.

"You don't seem like a clone to me," her mother said quietly. "Although I don't think anyone could blame you for worrying about it."

Lil shut her eyes. She could feel tears at the corner of her eyes, and that was stupid. She had saved the galaxy. Why would this break her so much? It was just an irrational fear that had grabbed her first when she had seen her mother's note. She hadn't trusted, Miranda, the Illusive Man, or any member of Cerberus to be telling her the truth. If they were lying, then her mother was one of the few people that would be able to tell. As much as she loved Garrus and had a hard time imagining life without him, they had only known each other for a few years. Her mother had raised her, and helped shape what she would become. If anyone would be the one to know she was different than who she said she was, it would be her.

For a while, Lil had thought she had managed to get ride of her doubts but then her mother had walked in during her stay with the Alliance and all of them had been rushing back. She had been so terrified that her mother wouldn't know her, or she would be acting weird, or something else would be off. She has been more than half certain she was going to hear that she wasn't Hannah Shepard's daughter. Now, hearing her mother say almost the opposite was getting to her in ways she hadn't thought possible. A weight she hadn't even known was there had disappeared.

"Lillie?"

Slowly Lil opened her eyes. "..Thanks. Maybe now I'll start to believe it. Still not sure what _else _Cerberus did to me though."

"If they did anything, no matter what it might be, you're still going to be my daughter," there was absolute conviction in her mother's voice. "And believe me, nothing can make me change my mind about that."

Lil gave up trying to keep her tears back and just smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

Her mother leaned over, and gave her a careful hug. "Just make sure you're okay, Lillie."

Even though her arms still felt like lead, and it took almost every bit of strength she had left, Lil reached up to return the embrace. The pulled apart after half a second. "Still, glad you're here." The words took actually effort to form. Now that she wasn't running on adrenaline and not shaking, her body was letting her know that she had pushed things way too far. She settled back against the pillows, feeling amazingly heavy. Still, she tried to keep her eyes open.

She felt, more than heard, her mothers sigh and there was a creak as her weight left the bed. "Go to sleep Lillie," she heard her order. "People have waited this long to see you. Anyone who's worth your time can wait a little longer."

Lil tried to mutter an agreement, but exhaustion was pulling at her and she slipped into sleep before she could even complete the thought.

"I don't care what the council wants," Garrus growled not even bothering to keep his voice down anymore. "I still don't see the point of me talking with them. You're the Primarch, Victus. You're the one they should be dealing with."

"_Primarch, yes_," Victus' voice came from the omni-tool, "_But not one of the biggest heroes the galaxy has at the moment. And, unless you forgot, you happen to be one of the most senior advisors we have." _

"I didn't forget," Garrus said, pacing back and forth along the narrow stretch of corridor, "I just don't see the point in calling me one anymore. The only reason I was allowed that responsibility at all was because of the Reapers. You might not have noticed, but they're gone now. I doubt the Senate is going to be jumping with joy at keeping me as an advisor." He glanced back down the corridor he was in. There was the guarded double door at the end that led to Shepard's private hallway. This was the area that was near the official checkpoint, and he was close enough that he was able to hear the hum of activity from the main hospital area. This was not _anywhere _near where he wanted to be.

"_I do think I remember something about the Reaper's falling,_ _yes,_" was the dry response from his omni-tool. _"That they are dead doesn't matter anymore. You proved that you could make capable final decisions. That made an impression on a lot of people, Vakarian. Couple that with how many we lost during the war, and you have more people than you think supporting you." _

"Well, nice to know. Not that it really makes that much off a difference right now," Garrus glanced back toward the doors again. He should be back there, waiting with Shepard. He had promised her that. Getting dragged away because of politics hadn't been part of the plan. The only reason he even had answered his omni-tool was because it was Victus. If he had known it would end in an argument that would get him banished all the way here he would have just let his friend suffer in silence. "Do we even have a Council anymore, really? The Citadel is kind of, you know, destroyed."

"_Damaged, not destroyed,_" Victus said, sounding like he was repeating something. "_Sparatus and Tevos are both alive, although wounded. Both of them are trying their best to keep things organized and under control despite that. That's probably half the reason why Sparatus wanted you to come to the Citadel. He needs some sort of symbol to hold up. You were in C-sec at one point. He's trying to appeal to your sense of duty."  
_

"Yeah, well, you can tell Sparatus to look for another puppet. I am not going up there. There are more important things for me to do down here." He had gone out into the corridor in front of Shepard's room, but when his subvocals had started raising enough that even humans could hear it one of the guards outside her door had coughed and suggested he was 'making a disturbance' with a glance at Shepard's room of course, to remind him the walls weren't that thick. He didn't know whether to be happy that they had found a set of soldiers that actually seemed to like Shepard or just feel annoyed at being scolded like a raw cadet.

He had listened to their advice, only for Shepard's sake, and gone into this hallway after that. At least he could agree about them warning him. He would rather shoot himself in the foot than wake up Shepard when she was still so fragile.

"_All I promised Sparatus was that I would pass along his message and suggest you contact him," _Victus didn't even sound surprised by his refusal. _"I'll try to keep him off your back for as long as I can, but eventually he's going to get through himself. I understand why you want some time to yourself, but keep in mind that the galaxy is still spinning. People are going to want things from you, and I suggest you think about how you want to deal with them." _

"I know, I know," Garrus sighed. "Just…not right now. I have things to do."

"If that's how you want to play it. Be careful, Vakarian. People are already spreading rumors about where Shepard is. Half the media already has a good idea where to look. I suggest you keep an eye out."

For some reason it didn't really surprise him that Victus knew the truth. "I will…and thanks for the warning," Garrus cut the connection after that and stood silent. He had been aware that they couldn't keep Shepard's state and whereabouts secret forever. Alliance Command was probably already planning an interrogation. The thought made him growl softly. Another reason to stay near her. He was sure he could make it very clear to any of them that he wasn't going to allow them to question Sheaprd for hours and hours. They could probably match any number of reports in sheer annoyance and persistence. Actually, they were probably worse because they felt they had a right to be so intrusive. He would just have to make sure they understood how wrong they were.

The comment Victus had made about paparazzi already knowing where Shepard was, that worried him a little. He wandered forward a little, just until he could see towards where the main lobby of the hospital was. The guards on duty where probably keeping an eye on who came through the doors as well but he felt just a little better checking for himself. There was no one immediately in sight that he thought might be part of the media. No cameras at least, although he was pretty sure the hospital staff would chase out anyone that obvious about what they were doing. The guards should be able to stop anyone else, or at least he hoped they were competent enough to do that.

Enough, Vakarian, he told himself, you'd better get back to Shepard before someone else decides to call you for something stupid. Well, stupid-er. He turned to walk away, but something out of the corner of his eye stopped him. It wasn't even so much a thing as the sense of a color. A very familiar shade of grey that stopped him his tracks. His head snapped over and he caught sight of turian talking to a nurse.

He knew that coloration and that build. That was impossible though, he knew she wasn't on earth at the moment. Or, at least she hadn't been the last time he had checked. There were plenty of turians here, it must just be someone similar looking to her. Then she turned, and he caught sight of her markings. He hurried though the checkpoint without even thinking about it.

"Sol?" he called out once he was close enough. She whipped around, her eyes wide.

"Garrus!" she limped over to him. He embraced his sister, a soft trill of relief escaping his subvocals for a moment before they separated.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, "I thought you were still with the fleet! And why are you on your feet? Dad said your leg was broken, and I know you don't heal that fast." He glanced down at the reinforced cast that decorated the lower half of her right leg from the knee down.

She waved his concerns away. "I'm not a child anymore, Garrus. It's healed enough to walk on now, or else I wouldn't even be down here. Do you really think anyone would have let me on a shuttle if I hadn't been cleared by a doctor?" She gave him a stubborn look, as if daring for him to call her out on it. The only reason he didn't was because their father had been the last person he remembered her being with, and he would have tried to haul her back himself if she hadn't been cleared. Anyone else Sol probably would have been able to charm into doing what she wanted.

"Okay, fine, you're walking now," he said as evenly as he could. It hadn't escaped his noticed that there were several people giving them looks. Ones that had more to do with annoyance at them taking up part of the hallway than anything else. Reunions, happy or otherwise, weren't uncommon here where the wounded were and one look at them probably told enough of the story that no one was curious. Happy, maybe, but not curious. Sol's plates might be half a shade lighter than his were, and her eyes might tend more towards grey than blue, but they had the same markings (which even humans noticed) and the same mandible shape (which only other turians seem to realize) to mark them as family. He gently grabbed her arm and steered her towards a corner, out of the way of traffic. "That still doesn't tell me what you're doing here."

"On Earth or here specifically? I have answers to both." Sol leaned back against the wall and flared her mandibles in a smirk. She was obviously trying to make the move look causal, but it didn't escape Garrus' notice that her position took some of the weight of her injured leg. His eyes flickered towards an empty chair that was a few feet away, but he knew better than to offer it to her or ask if she wanted crutches. It would just make her even more determined to prove she didn't need any help. His sister was too stubborn for her own good sometimes.

"Then why don't' you give me both answers?" he demanded. "I didn't even know you were coming!"

"Not my fault," she shot back, "I sent you a message and everything. I even got confirmation that it went through. If you didn't see it then it's all on you."

He couldn't find any fault in that statement and fought to keep his face blank. Okay, so he had been ignoring his omni-tool messages all morning, but if he had known that one was Sol's he would have….well, done what, really? Gone to meet her? That would mean leaving Shepard. It was his sister though, one of the few family members he had left. Could he have chosen between them?

He gave himself a mental shake and vowed to not worry about a situation that was already past. "Okay, I missed a message. You are here because…?"

"Because it was either come here or stay stuck up there and help Dad with organizational and political maneuvering," Sol snorted. "I was stuck on bed rest and missed what's probably the biggest battle this galaxy is ever going to see. I wanted to do something physical and at least see the battlefield. Besides," she added, "someone needed to come down here and check on you. It's not like you've been in regular contact or anything."

"I sent a note!" he protested, "I told Dad I was fine and asked him to tell you that! I don't need to be 'checked on' Sol. It's not like I'm that irresponsible."

"Oh, I know that," Sol crossed her arms and settled back with her mandibles flared in annoyance. "But the thing is, I keep remembering the first time I heard you say 'I'm fine'. It was that time when you broke you arm, were freaked and looked like you were going to pass out any second but kept insisting you were fine.."

"That was when we were kids!" he protested, "and I was trying to keep you from freaking out!"

"Exactly," Sol said calmly. "So forgive me if I doubt every 'fine' that comes out of you. Turns out that's probably a good thing. I went to the command center thinking that's where a big shot like you would be.."

"I'm not a big shot, Sol,"

"And," she raised her voice slightly and entirely ignored his protest, "I found out you weren't there. When I started asking around, someone there told me that you had been running off to the hospital at every spare opportunity." She reached out and poked his chest armor. "Fine my ass Garrus. What's the matter with you?"

It took several seconds for what she was worried about to make sense to him. "What do you…oh, spirits," he groaned. "Sol, it's nor for me, I swear." She just kept glaring at him and he sighed. "Look, I did take a few hits during the final battle, I'll admit that. Those are healed though, and if you ask anyone here they'll tell you I've never been a patient. I'm just here visiting a friend. That's it, I promise you."

Sol still had that disbelieving look on her face. "Visiting a friend. Every single day, every spare moment you have?"

"It's complicated," he started to say.

"Garrus!" his name interrupted his train of thought. He turned to find Tali trotting towards him. "What are you doing out here? Did something happen?" She stopped as she reached his side and finally seemed to realize he was talking with someone. "Oh. Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Sol was giving Tali a curious look, and Garrus decided it was better if she didn't get the chance to ask questions. "Tali, this is my sister, Solana. Sol, this is Tali'Zorah. She's an old friend that served on the Normandy with me."

"It's nice to finally meet you," Sol said, "Garrus has mentioned you a few times, and I heard the reports. You have a pretty impressive reputation."

Garrus wondered just what reports Sol had been reading to make her say that.

"Thank you," Tali replied, relaxing a little. "I wish I could say the same, but for some reason Garrus doesn't seem to talk about his family much." Even though he couldn't see past her helmet, Garrus got the feeling that Tali was giving him a glare of her own.

"Sounds like him," Sol agreed.

"It's a little thing called privacy," he said after half a second. "I'm not required to share my life story with the whole world."

"No," Tali said, "you just babble about everything else. Constantly."

"I'm not that bad," he protested, and Sol snorted in amusement. "Well, maybe sometimes."

"Or constantly," Sol cut in. "he's been that way since we were kids."

"Why am I not surprised?" Tali sounded amused.

"Did no one inform me that it's 'Pick on Garrus' day? Because that would have been a good thing to know."

"Sorry," Tali covered the speaker on her mask with a hand. "But I think your ego can handle it."

"Oh, it can, believe me," Sol chuckled.

"Look, can we stop with the mocking already? I think that's enough mocking for today," Garrus said pleasantly. "Is there something you needed Tali?"

"Not really," the quarian admitted, "I was just going to visit Shep.." She looked over at Sol then and seemed to freeze.

"Shep?" Sol glanced back and forth between them and Garrus could just feel the gears turning in her head. She had always been far too good at reading between the lines and putting facts together. This wasn't exactly the hardest puzzle if you knew what to look for either. "This has something to do with Commander Shepard, doesn't it?"

Tali gave an outright squeak at that. "N..no, of course not!" she stammered, twisting her fingers together and glancing at him frantically. Garrus just sighed.

"It's all right," he said motioning to Tali to calm down. "We can trust her. I think Shepard would understand."

"So Shepard is here," Sol said settling back with a slightly smug look on her face. "There was a group of reporters outside that seemed to think she was, and you've got rumors flying saying that Shepard is secretly alive. I just hadn't found any confirmation. I should have figured things out when Garrus said he was visiting someone here. Shepard is the only one I've ever seen him that devoted to."

"Yes, she's here," Garrus said quickly. He didn't want Sol to think anymore closely than that. His relationship with Shepard was one thing he hadn't really opened up to his family about yet, and he wasn't sure what Sol's reaction to it was going to be. He would rather be somewhere a little more private than the middle of a hospital when she figured it out. "Alliance Command just thought things would be a little safer if we kept her location secret."

"Great job they're doing with that," Sol said. "She's the big hero. You think people would be able to keep quiet about it?"

"They did for a while," Tali pointed out. "It's just that lately, people have gotten a bit sloppy I guess. We just wanted to make sure she was going to be okay." The quarian was twisting her hands around each other again, and glanced off the side, towards the checkpoint.

"Uh-hu," Sol gave Tali a measuring glance. "And I guess that she's 'all right'? Or at least the rumors seem to think she is."

Garrus weighed his options before answering. "She was out of it for a while, but she's been awake and talking the last couple of days. Tired though, but the doctors say that will pass." Sol was going to be curious, and she rarely ever let go of an idea once she got it in to her head. If he answered her questions now, it would save having to deal with them later.

"If she only just woke up, I can think of a couple other reasons that the Alliance wanted her condition kept quiet," Sol mused. "It would be a hard blow to morale if they announced the galaxy's biggest hero was alive, and then she turned out to be a vegetable or something."

Tali tensed fingers tightened together as Garrus growled. "Sol!" in warning tones that seeped into his subvocals.

"Sorry," Sol had the grace to wince a little and duck her head. "I know she's a friend of yours. But hey, at least that didn't happen, right?"

"Right," Tali said, letting out a breath, " I've been trying to avoid thinking about it. They mentioned it to us too, but…."

"Tali," Garrus interrupted. "Could you go check on Shepard for me? She wasn't awake when I left her, but she's been out for a while and might be soon. She would probably appreciate having a friend around, and she hasn't had a chance to see you yet.."

"Sure," Tali looked grateful for a chance to get away for a bit. "I think she'll understand talking with family."

"Her mother's with her," he called after Tali as she set off, "watch out for that." Tali just waved at him before disappearing down the checkpoint corridor.

"So," Sol said as soon as Tali was gone. "Commander Shepard, huh? You're here everyday just for her."

"She's the closest friend I have, Sol," he said. Complete and utter truth even if it wasn't all of it. "Can you really blame me for being worried after everything that's happened?"

"Not really," Sol shifted a little trying to get more comfortable. Garrus fought the urge to reach out and help her. She wouldn't appreciate it. "You always seemed like you were close with her." Sol was studying him now, as if she were trying to come up with a theory. "Still, you're going to have to rip yourself away from her side at some point. I doubt Dad would be pleased at having to come all the way here."

Garrus felt any explanations he had been going to make about why he was staying so close to Shepard vanish from his mind. "Dad? Wait, is dad here?" He glanced around, half expecting his father to pop out of the ground at any moment. His heart was already speeding up, he could feel it. If there was anyone aside from Sol he didn't want finding out about his relationship with Shepard, it was his father. They might have made a sort of truce in their relationship and were slowly starting to repair things, but he didn't trust the tradition bound elder Vakarian to be anything less than displeased about his only son dating a human.

"Oh, he's not here right now," Sol said, snapping him back to what was in front of him and letting himself relax a little. "He'll be catching a shuttle down soon, though. Things have calmed down enough with the fleet that he feels he can afford to come down here and check on you. You did make it pretty obvious that you weren't going to go up there to see us. At least not right away."

"Wait, didn't Dad just send you down to check on me? Why is he coming himself?"

"He didn't send me to check on you," Sol said patiently. "I came down on my own because I was bored. Then I decided to check on you." She shook her head slightly. "Not that it really matters. I could try to send him messages saying that you really were okay for once, but he would probably still insist on coming to see for himself."

"I don't need him checking on me," Garrus found himself growling and tried to force his subvocals to behave.

"Garrus, it's not about that and you know it" Sol said sharply. "After everything that happened; Mom, the war, me getting hurt, he's just worried. He does care about you, you know. You're his son."

"I know," Garrus rumbled and went to lean against the wall beside her. "It's just complicated."

"The two of you are both rock-headed and stubborn, but you're still family. You can at least try to get along with him for a bit, right?"

"Riiight," Garrus wasn't entirely sure about that himself, but at least he would try. He owed his Dad that much at least. "I'll deal with him. It'll be fine." _I hope._


End file.
